~T  /    y  4-  -  JL" 


Duke  University  Libraries 
Speech  of  Mr.  M 
Conf  Pam  #648 

DTTOflDTbME 


OF 


ME.  MCCUE,  OF  AUGUSTA, 


DELIVERED   IS  THE 


HOUSE  OF  DELEGATES, 


ON  THE 


16th  and  17th  October,  1863, 


ON  THE 


BILL  TO   PROTECT   SHEEP  AND  INCREASE   THE 
PRODUCTION  OP  WOOL. 


RICHMOND: 

GEO.  P.  EVANS  &  CO.,  PRINTERS,  "WHIG  BUILDING." 
1863. 


<•     •>* 


**\* 


TV.-R. 


C*v^£ 


IN  THE  HOUSE  OF  DELEGATES 


OF  VIRGINIA 

A  motion  having  been  made  to  indefinitely  postpone  the  Bill  to  protect 
Sheep  and  increase  the  growth  of  Wool,  Mr.  McCue  spoke  as 
follows:  • 

Mr.  Speaker — 

Accustomed  as  I  am  to  a  laconic  style  of  speaking,  and  trespassing 
seldonvon  the  attention  of  the  House,  causes  a  feeling  of  embarrassment  in  addressing 
you  at  this  time.  Conscious  of  the  vast  importance  of  my  subject,  and  of  my  inability  to 
do  it  justice,  increases  that  feeling. 

Where  are  we,  sir.'  Who  are  you,  sir,  and  who  are  we  occupying  these  seats?  The 
representatives  of  one  of  the  constituent  parts  of  this  young  Republic,  just  springing  into 
existence,  are  we  assembled.  FJm,  sir,  occupying  the  seat,  graced  since  the  days  of  17?fj 
with  a  Pendleton,  Wythe,  Lee,  Mason  and  Bland,  and  a  long  line  of  worthies,  that  have 
illustrated  and  adorned  the  history  of  the  old  Union.  We  are  the  successors  of  the  Harri- 
sons and  Lewis,  Madison  and  Marshall,  Henry  and  Randolph,  and  the  long  roll  of  states- 
men, whose  fame  adorned  the  era  in  which  they  lived,  and  enjoy  an  immortality  co-ex- 
i*tant  with  the  bounds  of  the  civilized  world. 

Entering,  as  we  are  just  doing,  upon  the  threshold  of  a  new  existence,  and  weighed 
down  as  we  must  feel  ourselves  to  be,  by  the  immense  responsibility,  are  we  equal  to  the 
tccasion.'  I  fear  not,  sir.  Methinks  the  shade  of  the  immortal  Jefferson,  whose  portrait 
adorns  our  hall,  if  it  could  speak,  would  exclaim,  dwarfed,  diearfed,  when  compared  with 
<»ur  predecessors  of  a  past  age.  If  it  were  possible  for  the  marble  semblance  of  the  Fa- 
ther of  his  country,  in  the  ante-chamber,  to  run  a  parallel  between  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederate  States,  together  with  the  past  and  the  present  legislature,  and  the  patriots  of 
1776,  who  adorned  our  legislative  annals,  1  fear  we  must  all  suffer  in  the  comparison.  A 
handful  of  bold  and  dauntless  spirits  scattered  over  a  wide  country,  as  yet  but  partially 
reclaimed  from  the  forest,  hemmed  in  by  a  trackless  ocean,  and  threatened  by  a  savage 
foe,  with  an  implicit  trust  in  God,  they  achieved  independence.  Without  an  army  and 
navy,  and  destitute  of  all  those  appliances  necessary  to  wage  a  war,  they  improvised'evcry- 
ihing,  and  conquered.  We,  Mr.  Speaker,  finding  it  necessary  to  adopt  their  example,  in 
vindicating  our  rights  and  in  resisting  a  haled  tyranny,  severed  connexion  with  the  latr 
Union.  A  benignant  Providence  has  vouchsafed  to  lead  us,  and  he  is  blind,  indeed,  who 
can  shut  his  eyes  to  the  belief,  that  we  have  not  thus  far  been  sustained,  by  His  overrulintc 
care.  "Let  not  him  that  putteth  on  his  harness  boast  himself,  as  he  that  putteth  it  ort." 
Virginia,  conscious  of  having  done  all  to  preserve  the  late  Union,  and  anticipating  the 
sore  trials  in  store  for  her,  joined  her  destiny  with  her  sisters  of  the  South.  She  did  not 
cast  the  die  too  soon,  \obly  has  she  borne  herself,  and  proudly,  defiantly,  and  most  ear- 
nestly will  she  wage  this  war;  until  she  vindicates  those  rights  dear  to  her  as  the  brave  sons 
whose  life-blood  has  been  a  libation,  on  every  battle  field,  from  Mason  and  Dixon's  line 
to  the  Rio  Grande.  Her  territory  encroached  upon  by  a  ruthless  foe,  aided,  alas  !  by  re<  - 
rrant  and  dastardly  sons,  shr  will  reclaim  every  foot  of  it  at  any  sacrijic*.  Sustaining  both 
armies,  her  fields  laid  waste,  her  towns  and  villages  burned,  her  slaves  carried  off,  she 
falters  not.  With  an  army  approximating  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  the  field, 
equipped,  to  a  great  extent,  by  her  own  means,  she  vaunts  not,  but  sends  them  forth 
and  cheers  them  with  the  promise,  to  sustain  their  wire*  and  little  ones  at  home.  It  is  a 
promise  to  the  ear,  and  will  not  be  broken  to  tht  h"pe.  We  are  called  upon  to  redeem  that 
promise. 


A  I 


But,  Mr.  Speaker,  in  entering  upon  the  grand  struggle  in  which  we  are  engaged,  we  are 
called  upon  to  vit:  iicate  in  our  history,  two  of  the  greatest  principles  ever  before  illustrated 
in  the  annals  of  the  past.  The  problem  which,  for  three  quarters  of  a  century,  has  been 
gradually  unfolding,  whether  a  "free  people  can  govern  themselves,"  is  solved.  The  Pu- 
ritan element,  as  constituting  a  part  of  the  late  government,  has  demonstrated  this  prob- 
lem. It  is  now  being  proved  beyond  all  cavil,  that  the  conservative  element  of  that 
government  is  lost  to  it,  forever.  The  balance-wheel  is  gone,  never  more  to  be  restored.  We 
are  waiting  every  moment  for  the  electric  current  to  bear  to  us  the  result  of  the  late  elec- 
tions in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania.  Who  so  blind  to  the  events  of  the  past  as  n-  t  antici- 
pate the  result?  With  that  result  achieved,  as  it  doubtless  will  be,  aided  by  i  e  ...ral  bay- 
onets, and  an  unrestricted  suffrage,  the  despotism  of  Abram  Lincoln  is  established.  If, 
per  chance,  we  are  in  error,  and  freedom  of  opinion  and  of  speech  should  seem  to  triumph, 
'tis  the  meteor  flash  to  go  out  in  instantaneous  darkness.  Anarchy,  free  and  unlicensed, 
will  be  the  inevitable,  unavoidable  result.  As  remarked,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  problem  will 
he  solved  that  a  government  with  a  preponderating  Puritanic  element  cannot  preserve  free 
institutions.  It  is  to  be  left  to  us,  sir,  the  descendants  of  the  Huguenot  and  Cavalier,  to 
illustrate  that  great  problem.  May  Heaven  vouchsafe  to  us  its  satisfactory  demonstra- 
tion. 

The  other  problem  that  is  to  be  illustrated,  as  I  sincerely  believe,  is  the  preservation  •/the 
institution  of  slavery.  All  the  indications  pointing  in  this  direction  are  unmistakeable.  Provi- 
dence, for  wise  purposes,  permitted  the  African  to  be  transplanted  by  the  Puritan  upon 
the  bleak  and  inhospitable  shores  of  New  England,  in  order  that  he  should  be  sent  here. 
This  war  has  demonstrated,  what  every  right  thinking  mind  had,  in  its  conclusions,  ar- 
rived at,  that  with  all  their  hypocritical  cant,  they  cared  not  for  the  African's  welfare, 
either  as  regards  body  or  soul.  Disappointed  in  finding  the  institution  an  element  of  our 
weakness,  as  they  hoped,  but  of  our  strength,  as  they  have  discovered,  their  aims  are  lev- 
elled at  its  extermination.  The  war  has  been  and  will  continue  to  be  waged  to  bring 
about  that  result.  England,  the  aider  and  instigator,  through  Exeter  Hall  and  the  Thomp- 
son class  of  missionaries,  of  New  England,  is  reluctantly  arriving  at  the  conclusion  that 
she  committed  an  egregious  ef ror  in  the  manumission  of  her  slaves.  Her  selfish,  policy 
has,  in  part,  served  to  convince  her  of  this,  and  at  the  same  time  dictated  her  course  to- 
wards us.  Disappointed  in  her  efforts  in  India  and  elsewhere,  to  supply  herself  with  the 
article  of  cotton,  and  awakening  at  last,  though  reluctantly,  to  the  fact  she  has  been 
misled  and  deceived  by  Seward  and  Sumner,  she  will  presently  asquiesce  in  the  policy 
and  the  wisdom,  and  I  might  say  humanity,  of  the  institution  of  slavery — and  reluctantly 
consent  to  its  permanence  here.  The  salvation  of  her  starving  millions  depend  on  it. 
The  Government  of  France,  to  a  great  extent  also,  influenced  by  the  same  considera- 
tions, is  gradually  awakening  to  the  same  great  truth,  to  wit: — that  slavery  as  it  is  in  the 
South,  must  be  preserved.  She,  too,  is  dependent  upon  its  fabor,  and  must  soon  avow  that 
dependence,  by  recognizing  us  as  a  nation,  in  whose  custody  and  protection  Providence  has 
placed  this  institution. 

Mr.  Speaker,  who  is  there  will  doubt  the  two  propositions  I  have  established — that  we 
must  illustrate  in  our  history  the  ability  of  a  people  to  govern  themselves,  and  that  we  are  made 
the  peculiar  custodians  of  the  institution  of  slavery. 

That  institution  being  an  element  of  our  strength,  it  becomes  us  to  so  legislate  as  to 
make  it  co-operate  with  our  army,  in  securing  our  liberty  and  independence.  How  is  the 
effectiveness  of  our  army  to  be  maintained?  By  a  wise  foresight  in  providing  for  its 
wants,  and  in  feeding  and  clothing  it,  and  sustaining  its  families  and  friends  at  home.  It  is 
a  self-evident  proposition,  that  to  secure  a  cheerful  obedience  from  the  soldier,  and  insure 
his  contentment,  you  must  relieve  his  anxiety  about  the  dear  ones  at  home.  As  winter 
approaches  and  he  knows  that  food  and  clothing  and  fuel  has  not  or  cannot  be  provided  for 
them,  he  cannot  fight.  You  must  see  to  his  own  individual  wants,  as  it  regards  these 
two  essential  elements  of  comfort — food  and  clothing.  Are  you  doing  it,  sir?  I  address 
tnyself  to  the  practical  common  sense  of  this House,  and  enquire  if  it  has,  with  that  wise 
foresight  that  characterizes  legislators,  provided  the  means  to  clothe  and  feed  its  army  in 
the  field,  to  say  nothing  of  the  families  at  home,  and  that  large  class  dependent  on  our 
foreiight,  our  slaves  ? 

If  such  steps  have  been  taken,  when  and  where?  Show  me  the  results.  Have  you,  sir, 
or  any  member  on  this  floor,  taken  the  pains  to  investigate  this  subject  and  learn  what  are 
our  means  to  clothe  a.nd  feed  our  army  ?  1  fear  not,  sir,  and  hence  my  enquiry,  if  we  were 
worthily  filling  the  places  of  our  grandsires.  I  have  thought  long  and  seriously  on  this 
subject^  and  have  interested  myself  to  get  up  all  the  information  bearing  on  the  legislation 
we  are  now  engaged  in,  and  I  incline  to  the  opinion,  sir,  that  it  may  be  the  sneer  will  give 
way  to  a  sad  and  gloomy  foreboding  of  the  future.  I  wish  to  arouse  your  fears,  sir,  and 
through  this  legislature,  to  excite  the  fears,  and,  as  a  consequence,  the  efforts  and  exer- 
tions of  the  people  to  come  to  the  aid  of  the  government.  Not  a  moment  is  to  be  lost. 
Winter  is  irell  nigh  upon  ws,  and  we  have  not  a  blanket  or  overcoat  to  give  our  troops.  Is 
it  prudent  to  give  this  information  to  the  people?  I  think  they  should  know  it,  and  act  upon 
it,  and  act  promptly.  In  a  correspondence  with  the  President  and  some  of  the  heads  of  de- 
partments, as  well  as  several  of  our  Southern  governors,  I  have  endeavored  to  arouse  their 


attention,  and  to  bring  about  co-operative  leg!-'  ition  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  Gov- 
ernment and  the  several  State  Legislatures,  to  carry  out  at  once,  the  object  I  have  endeav- 
ored to  attain  in  th*  bill  now  under  discussion.  1  will  send  to  the  Clerk  a  copy  of  a  letter 
1  addressed  the  President,  and  a  reply  received  from  the  Quartermaster  General  and  Gov. 
Vance,  of  North  Carolina, 

Stavn-tos-,  07th  September,  1863. 
His  Excellency  Prlmdext  l).\u> — 

Dear  Sir:  You  will  appreciate  the  motive  that  dictates  this  communication.  As  an 
humble  member  of  tne  present  Virginia  Legislature,  I  have  endeavored  to  set  on  foot  such 
legislation  as  »vill  aid  the  So'ith  in  keeping  its  armies  clothed.  You  will  feel  surprised 
when  !  inform  you  that  we  are  now  destitute  of  a  supply  of  blankets  and  overcoats  for  our 
troops  this  winter,  and  that  there  are  no  factories  in  the  South  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  blankets.  We  are  dependent  almost  entirely  on  purchases  in-England,  and  so  much  risk 
is  there  attending  this  trade,  that  it  amounts  almost,  to  a  prohibition.  I  am  informed  we 
bad  350,000  yards  of  English  cloth  burned  at  Charleston  a  few  weeks  since. 

By  a  joint  resolution  of  our  legislature,  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Confederate 
Congress,  and  each  of  our  State  Legislatures,  to  the  subject.  1  think  we  should  prohibit 
the  slaughter*  of  sheep  for  food,  in  the  army  and.  in  the  several  States.  Stringent  legisla- 
tion is  necessary,  also,  to  protect  them  from  the  ravages  of  dogs.  I  hope,  toy  dear  sir, 
the  views  I  have  presented  will  attract  your  attention  to  the  importance  of  this  subject' 
and  that  you  will  favor  me,  at  the  earliest  moment  that  may  be  convenient,  with  an  inter- 
view, in  which  I  desire  to  have  a  more  free  interchange  of  opinions  as  to  the  propriety 
of  my  suggestions. 

I  am  absent  from  my  seat  in  the  House,  for  a  few  days,  and  will  be  in   Richmond  about 
the  30th  instant,  at  which  time  I  will  be  happy  to  have  an  opportunity  to  meet  you. 
With  much  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

J.  M.  McCUE. 


Confederate  States  of  America,  i 

Quartermaster  Gen.'s  Ofiict,      \ 
Richmond,  Oct.  12,  1862.  ) 

Sir:  In  response  to  your  letter  of  recent  date  and  the  recent,  inquiries  made  by  you  in 
person*  I  submit  the  following  : 

The  subject  you  have  under  consideration  respecting  the  bc-t  means  of  preserving  the 
wool  in  this  region  of  country,  is  a  matter  of  much  importance  to  the  public  interests,  and 
especially  to  this  department.  Wool  is  rem  scarce,  and  limited  as  our  manufacturing  facil- 
ities are,  they  are  still  unproductive,  in  part,  by  reason  of  a  want  of  the  raw  material. 
The  enemy,  as  you  know,  control  sections  of  this  Slate  in  which  a  large  proportion  of  this 
article  is  grown,  and  for  the  present  we  are  cut  oll'entirely  from  the  trans-Mississippi  region, 
which  is  so  productive  of  this  particular  item  of  supply.  An  arrangement  has  been  made 
to  draw  largely  from  Texas.  Orders  were  issued  a  long  time  since,  for  the  purchase  of  a 
large  quantity  of  wool  in  that  State,  and  directions  given  to  have  it  forwarded,  as  speedilv 
as  possible,  to  this  side  of  the  river.  Over  1,00(1,0(10  of  pounds  were  provided,  some 
months  ago,  but  the  fall  of  Vicksburg,  and  consequent  ditlicultics  of  communication,  have 
prevented  its  receipt,  and  still  exclude  any  reasonable  prospect  thereof,  (t  has  become, 
therefore,  a  matter  of  the  first  importance,  to  husband  the  resources  of  wool-producing 
sections,  this  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  any  means  to  that  end  the  State  Legislatures  can 
devise,  will  be  both  expedient  and  wise. 

As  regards  the  other  resources  of  this  department,  I  can  only  state,  in  a  general  way, 
that  there  are  several  articles  essential  to  the  comfort  and  efficiency  of  our  armies,  that  it 
will  be  impossible  to  provide  this  winter  without  relief  from  abroad.  Blankets,  for  in- 
stance, are  very  scarce,  and  the  facilities  for  procuring  the  same  in  the  home  market  very 
limited.  Shoes,  too,  are  much  needed:  our  manufacturing  means  being  made,  however, 
to  procure  what  is  needed;  but  there  are  so  many  contingencies  attending  the  same  that 
it  is  difficult  to  say  in  advance,  what  the  result  will  be.  1  can  only  add,  in  conclusion,  that 
so  great  is  the  demand  for  articles  of  supply  in  the  way  of  army  clothing,  and  such  the 
difficulties  and  uncertainties  attending  their  procurement  from  abroad,  that  there  is  every 
consideration  appealing  to  both  legislators  and  individuals  to  do  all  that  they  may  be  able 
to  develop  and  economize  our  domestic  resources. 

Very  respectfully,  vour  obedient  servant, 

A.  R.  LAWTON, 

Q.  M.  General, 
Hon.  J.  M.  McCur., 

House  of  Delegates  Shite  of  Virginia,  Richmond. 


*Ji  Vjj 


a  . 


State  of  North  Carolina,  Executive  Department,) 
Raliegh,  Oct.  Gih,  1862.         J 

J.  Marshall   McCue — 

Dzar  Sir:  I  have  received  your  recent  letter  upon  the  subject  of  fostering  and  pro- 
tecting the  growth  of  wool,  and  I  beg  leave  to  assure  you  that  your  appreciation  of  its 
importance  is  most  fully  concurred  in  by  me. 

This  State,  over  whose  destinies  I  have  been  called  to  preside  at  this  critical  junc- 
ture, having  undertaken  to  clothe  her  own  troops,  feels  the  want  of  this  essential  material 
which  will  enable  her  to  make  good  her  obligation.  Indeed,  a  supply  could  not  be  ob- 
tained within  all  our  borders,  and  we  have  been  compelled  to  seek  it  in  other  quarters, 
which  is  attended  with  much  expense  and  inconvenience.  The  loss  of  Vicksburg,  has  cut 
ui  oft" from  the  markets  of  Texas,  and  increases  the  necessity  of  adopting  measures,  to 
provide  our  own  productions,  at  home. 

r~It  will  atford  me  great  pleasure,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  General  Assembly  to  the 
subject,  at  its  approaching  extra  session  in  November. 

(    I  return  you  my  thanks  for  your  proposed  patriotic  action  upon  so  important  a  subject, 
and  earnestly  hope  your  efforts  may  not  be  unavailing. 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

Z.  B.  VANCE. 

As  apposite  to  the  subject  of  Gov.  Vance's  letter,  I  will  here  take  occasion  to- say,  that 
his  Slate  has  shown  to  her  sisters  of  the  South  the  most  commendable  zeal,  and  keen  fore- 
sight, in  studying  the  comforts  of  her  soldiers  and-  people,  and  at  the  same  time,  putting 
money  in  her  pocket,  and  set  an  example  to  us  that  we  should  now  follow.  Will  we  do 
it?  I  fear  we  are  not  equal  to  the  occasion.  She  has,  with  her  own  rich  products,  sent 
out  to  Europe  a  number  of  vessels,  freighted  to  their  utmost  capacity,  and  brought  b'ack 
an  amount  of  clothing  sufficient,  in  certain  articles,  to  supply  her  own  soldiers,  and  leav- 
ing a  surplus  for  sale,  and  a  heavy  profit  to  her.  Within  a  few  days  past,  one  of  her  ves- 
sels succeeded  in  reaching  one  of  her  ports,  commanded  by  a  personal  friend  of  mine, 
who  has  won  honor  for  himself,  and  profit,  as  well  as  distinction  to  his  adopted  State,  by 
his  courage  and  daring.  Why  has  Virginia  not  anticipated  the  action  of  Carolina,  the  Rip 
Van  Winkle  of  the  past?  Alas  !  Mr.  Speaker,  I  fear  the  blame  rests  on  us.  To  the  credit 
of  our  Governor,  be  it  said,  he  has  been  anxious,  for  a  time,  to  see  this  course  pursued, 
and  urged  it  in  personal  interviews,  I  am  told,  with  members,  but  to  little  purpose.  I  am 
not  sure  that  he  did  not  make  the  suggestion  to  Gov.  Vance,  which  he  has  so  nobly  acted 
upon.    All  honor  to  the  Old  North  State  and  her  patriotic  Governor. 

Pardon  the  length  of  my  digression,  sir. 

This  communication  to  the  President  was  referred  to  the  Q.  M.  General,  and  was  re- 
plied(to  by  him,  as  will  be  found  above.  It  is  proper  that  I  should  correct  an  error  I  was 
inadvertently  led  into,  in  the  statement  I  made  about  .150,000  yards  of  English  cloth  being 
destroyed  at  Charleston,  a  few  weeks  since.  I  ought  to  have  said  $350,000  worth  of  army 
supplies,  consisting  of  clothing,  shoes,  &c,  which  was  burned  in  the  passage  from  Nas- 
sau to  one  of  the  Southern  ports. 

1  took  an  early  opportunity  to  see  the  President.  He  assured  me  of  his  most  hearty  co- 
operation. That  he  had  anxiously  pondered  over  this  subject,  and  was  desirous  to  see  pub- 
lic interest  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  adopting  such  a  course  as  suggested  by  me;  said  he 
had  sent  my  letter  to  the  Q.  M.  General,  who  would  respond  to  it  at  once.  He  desired 
me  to  see  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  to  say  to  him,  he  hoped  he  would  adopt  such  prompt 
measures  as  would  preventthe  further  destruction  of  sheep  in  the  army.  1  saw  Mr.  Seddon 
immediately.  He  coincided  in  views  with  me  perfectly,  and  said  he  would  at  once  give 
orders  to  "hold  off  the  dogs  of  war,"  if  I  would  see  to  it,  that  the  legislature  would  muzzle 
the  canine  destroyers.  Will  we  do  it,  sir?  Can  we  find  that  intelligence  here  that  can 
grasp  the  magnitude  of  this  subject,  and  have  the  manly  independence,  regardless  of  the 
gibes  and  sneers  of  the  inconsiderate  here,  and  particularly  of  that  pestiferant  class 
of  small  demagogues,  of  the  bar-rooms  and  cross-roads,  at  home,  who,  by  appealing 
to  the  vilest  passions  of  that  population  who,  unfortunately,  are  the  possessors  of 
the  redundant  quantity  of  dogs,  have  hitherto  prevented  legislation  on  this  subject: 
I  do  sincerely  hope  we  can,  sir.  We  have  reached  a  crisis  in  our  history,  when  we  must 
brush  away  all  unworthy  considerations  of  that  sort,  and  rise  to  the  dignity  of  legislators, 
intelligent  enough  to  appreciate  the  condition  of  our  country;  and  independent  enough,  to 
carry  out  such  wise  and  wholesome  legislation,  as  the  times  demand.  It  is  no  time,  sir,  to 
indulge  in  sickly  sentimentality,  and  shrink  from  paltry  sacrifices.  We  are  called  upon  to 
make  great  ones,  and  to  aid,  not  only  by  our  legislation  here,  but  by  our  course  at  home, 
in  instructing  the  public  mind  to  a  like  necessity.  We  must  set  them  the  example  of  self 
iacrifi.ee.  It  is  presumed  we  were  selected  for  our  intelligence.  Let  us  not  disappoint  a 
confiding  people.  The  times  were  dark  and  lowring  when  we  were  chosen  to  come  here, 
and  the  trustiest  pilot  is  selected  in  the  storm.  In  regard  to  some  particular  feature  of 
the  bill  before  us  I  hear  members  say  "  I  can't  support  this  bill,  sir,  if  am  not  permitted 
to  keep  hounds  to  kill  foxes,  and  thus  protect  my  pigs  and  my  lambs."    Another,  "you 


must  make  an  exception  in  favor  of  the  terrier,  or  the  rats  will  devour  me."  These  and 
numerous  other  objections  of  such  a  character,  have  I  heard,  Mr.  Speaker,  yet  in  justice 
to  members  I  will  say,  they  have  not  reflected  on  this  subject,  have  not  examined  it,  and 
could  hardly  be  prepared  to  appreciate  its  importance,  and  hence,  I  hope  to  find  a  modi- 
fication of  their  views,  and  to  claim  their  free  and  unselfish  support  of  the  bill  when  time 
has  been  allowed  them  to  consider  it. 

That  great  and  good  man,  the  late  Jho.  S.  Skinner,  of  Md.,  on  one  occasion,  when  urg- 
ing, through  the  medium  of  his  agricultural  journal,  "The  Plow,  Loom  and  Anvil,"  the 
imperative,  necessity  of  stringent  legislation  to  protect  this  interest,  says:  "A  strong  per- 
suasion of  the  South 's  adaptation  to  the  raising  of  wool,  prompted  us  to  apply  to  Col. 
Randall  to  illustrate  and  prove  it,  which  leaves  to  the  Southern  landholder,  who  desires 
to  txtend  his  flocks,  nothing  further  to  be  wished  for  in  the  way  of  information,  except  to 
find  out  how  to  place  the  owners  of  sheep  on  a  level  with  the  owners  of  dogs,  in  point  of  in- 
fluence with  demagogue  law-givers,  whose  love  of  popularity  trancends,  somewhat,  their  in- 
dependence and  love  of  public  interest." 

As  we  desire  the  aid  of  other  Southern  States,  I  am  glad  to  learn  that  Georgia  has  for 
some  time  past,  abstained  from  killing  any  sheep;  my  informant  being  an  intelligent  mem- 
ber of  the  Georgia  Legislature,  who  says  it  has  been  regarded  there,  for  some  time,  as 
sacrilege,  to  use  his  own  language.  Webster  defines  sacrilege  to  be  "the  crime  of  appro- 
priating to  one's  self,  or  to  secular  use,  what  is  deroted  to  religion — the  crime  of  viola- 
ting or  profaning  things  sacred."  I  would,  sir,  that  this  great  interest  could  be  regarded 
as  sacred,  ai  this  word  of  solemn  import,  implies. 

By  the  comparison  of  the  census  of  1860,  Mr.  Speaker,  which  it  has  been  my  good  for- 
tune to  secure  a  few  moments  ago — the  only  copy  that  I  know  of  in  the  Southern  Confede- 
racy— I  find  the  population  of  the  Southern  States  to  be  9,175,544.  Of  these  States, 
Missouri,  Kentucky,  Arkansas,  Tennessee,  tico-thirds  of  Louisiana,  a  third  of  Mississippi, 
a  sixth  of  Alabama,  a  half  of  Florida,  a.  fourth  of  the  Carolinas,  and  half  of  Virginia  have 
been  overrun  and  are  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  In  1850  there  were  in  the  Southern 
States  the  following  number  of  sheep: 

1850.  1860.  1850.  1860. 

Wool— lbs.  Wool— lbs.  Sheep.  Sheep. 

Virginia,  2,860,765  2,509,443  1,310,004  1,042,946 

North  Carolina,  970,738  883,473  595,249  546,749 

South  Carolina,  487,233  427.102  .    285,551  233,509 

Georgia,  990,019  946,229  560,435  512,618 

Florida,  23,247  48,594  23,341  29,958 

Alabama,  657,118  681,404  371.880  369,061 

Mississippi,  555,619  637,729  304,929  337,754 

Louisiana,  109,897  296,187  110,333  180,855 

Texas,  131,917  1,497,768  100,530  783,618 

Arkansas,  182,595  410,285  91,256  202,674 

Tennessee,  "        1,364,278  1,400,508  811,591  '  772,317 

Kentucky,  2,297,433  2,325,124  1,102.091  938,990 

Missouri,  1,627,164  2,069,778  762,511  937,445 

12,298,253  13,112,417  6,429,701  ~6,889,494 

Increase 
Increase  only  814,184  of  only       359,793 

Of  the  wool  in  the  Southern  States^in  the  territory  overrun, 8,594,800  lbs, 

"  "  "  .«       not  overrun 4,517,617 

It  will  be  seen  the  increase  in  the  wool  of  the  (J.  States  from  1850  to 

1860  was 8,064,385  lbs. 

Increase  in  Southern  States  only • 814,164 


Mr.  Speaker,  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  Q.JH.  General  and  Gov.  Vance  both  re- 
ferred to  Texas  being  cut  off  from  us,  as  one  cause  of  the  diminution  of  wool.  In 
1860  Texas  had  but  1,497,748  lbs. — an  increase  of  1,365,831  lba. — yet  how  inadequate  to 
the  great,  the  fearful,  alarming  wants  of  the  country?  What  are  these  wants,  sir?  By 
a  carefully  prepared  statement  of  Judge  Beatty,  of  Ky.,  that  appeared  originally  in  the 
Amer.  Agriculturist,  it  appears  the  consumption  of  the  population  of  the  United  States 
was  set  down  at  6  pounds  per  head.  This  will  be  too  low  an  estimate  for  the  South,  as 
our  colored  population,  being  less  careful  of  their  clothing  than  the  same  class  in  the 
North,  the  estimate  can  safely  be  made  at  6  pounds  per  head.  "A  northern  farmer  or  la- 
boror  in  comfortable  circumstances,  will  consume  about  20  lbs.,  the  poorer,  not  for  from; 
10  lbs.,  a  boy  8  years  old  full  4  lbs.  a  girl,  in  country,  dressed  in  woolens,  4  lbs.    In  the 


cities  and  villages,  there  is  a  large  class,  whose  consumption  ranges  from  30  to  40  lbs.,  and 
even  50  lbs.,  including  carpets;  a  Southern  slave,  from  8  to  10  lbs.  Four  pounds  will 
not  be  too  much,  for  the  whole  population  of  the  U.  States,  but  six  pounds  nearer  the 
truth  in  the  Confederate  States." 

Our  population  in  the  Southern  States  in  1860  is  9,175,544,  and  consuming  6  lbs.  of  wool 

Eer  head,  would  require  55,053,264  lbs. — an  alarming  exhibit.  By  the  preceding  table  we 
ave  in  the  region  not  overrun  by  the  enemy  the  pitiful  sum  of  4,517,617  lbs.,  or  %  pounds 
t»  taeh  individual.  Is  this  not  an  alarming  exhibit,  Mr.  Speaker?  But  will  there  be  two 
pounds  each,  left  to  us  after  calculating  the  consumption  in  the  army  and  among  the 
neople  ? 

What  is  the  consumption  in  this  city,  and  larger  towns  of  the  State?  By  the  politeness 
Mr  Moffett,  and  Messrs.  Grills  &  Robertson,  salesmen  of  stock,  in  this  city,  I  am  furnished 
with  the  following  returns  of  sheep  sold  here,  for  slaughter.  Attached  to  Mr.  M.'s  state- 
ment, was  also  an  account  of  cattle  and  hogs,  that  will  be  found  interesting.  The  sales- 
men concur  in  saying,  as  many  sheep  are  purchased  by  butchers,  from  other  sources,  as 
pass  through  their  hands,  and  that  a  large  number,  are  sent  from  the  country  to  be  re- 
tailed here,  at  the  vegetable  market. 

Number  Sold  by  Mr.  Moffett. 


Cost  per  not  gross. 

Sheep. 

Cattle. 

Hogs. 

January,  1861,  to  October  1,  1861, 

3    cts. 

1,990 

2,200 

450 

October  1,  1861,  to  January  1,  1862, 

J8 

2,675 

4,350 

1,896 

January  1,      "        April],        " 

1 

1,120 

3,040 

1,470 

April  1            ««        July  1, 

9? 

3,360 

980 

1,120 

July  1,            "        October  1,    " 

115 

7,690 

3,975 

1,695 

October  I,      "        January  1,  1863, 

16i 

5,080 

6,594 

3,490 

January  1,     "        April  1,        " 

38 

598 

3,472 

246 

April  1,           "        July  1,         " 

432 

584 

326 

210 

Julyl,            "        October  1    " 

40  to  50 

1,325 

1,290 

246 

No.  sold  by  Messrs.  Grills  and  Robertson 20,445 

No.  purchased  from  other  sources 20,000 


Lynchburg,  3,500  annually,  say 10,000 

Petersburg 7,500 

Staunton 4,000 

Lexington . 600 

Danville, 600 


24,422  26,207  10,823 

40,445 


22,700 

Total. . .  c.  .87,547 

This  sum  is  an  approximate  calculation  of  those  in  the  cities  and  towns.  The  consump- 
tion in  the  country  would  reach  5  per  cent.,  perhaps,  10,  of  the  nuuioer  raised.  Of  those 
killed  by  dogs,  the  per  cent,  through  the  State  might  safely  be  put  down  at  25.  In  Augusta, 
out  of  11,915  s^eep,  as  per  census  of  1860,  from  the  best  hirormation  obtained,  1,500  head 
have  been  killed  since  1st  Jui^  ,  1861.  From  different  counties  we  hear  ofihe  extermination 
of  entire  ilocks.  A  gentleman  from  Fauquier  told  me  of  the  loss  of  150  head  in  a  few  i..^htg, 
and  in  Rockbridge,  Frederick,  Tazewell,  Wythe  and  other  counties,  similar  accounts 
reach  me.  In  the  latter  county,  the  gentieman  who  took  the  last  census,  noted  on  his  book 
as  he  travelled  around,  the  number  destroyed,  and  for  one  year  there  were  1,000.  A 
given  flock,  with  proper  care,  will  double  itself  every  four  years.  Not  so  in  Virginia,  the 
immense  loss  sustained  by  dogs  will  scarcely  permit  any  perceptible  increase.  Of  the  con- 
sumption in  the  army  'tis  difficult  to  make  an  estimate.  In  the  office  of  the  Commissary  Gen- 
eral, where  these  statistics  can  be  found,  the  labor  connected  with  their  compilation,  was 
of  so  herculean  a  character,  as  to  deter  me  in  undertaking  it.  In  justice  to  the  depart- 
ment also,  I  may  say,  while  disposed  to  aid  me,  they  had  not  the  force  to  make  the  search. 
We  must  only  judge,  then,  of  the  per  cent,  of  consumption,  both  of  those  purchased  by 
the  commissary  officers,  as  well  as  of  that  number  sold  to  officers  and  men  in  the  army  by 
citizens  and  speculators  near  the  camps.  In  the  Northern  Army  of  Virginia  the  con- 
sumption has  been  immense.  On  the  Potomac,  in  the  counties  of  Berkeley,  Jefferson, 
Frederick,  Clark,  &c,  the  greatest  wool-growing  region  of  the  State,  except  the  Pan 
Handle  and  the  Northwest,  which  has  been  completely  lost  to  us,  with  all  its  valuable 
flocks,  from  the  very  commencement  of  the  war,  our  flocks  have  been  almost  completely 
exterminated.  So  also  is  Culpepper,  Orange,  Madison,  Fauquier,  &c.  There  are  members 
here  who,  either  as  connected  with  the  army,  or  being  there  frequently ,  have  seen  this  con- 
sumption. Much  of  it  was  of  sheep  sold  directly  to  the  army  by  citizens,  without  the 
medium  of  commissaries.  I,  myself,  personally  acquainted  with  the  fine  flocki  of  Dr.  Well- 


ford,  of  Culpepper,  second  to  none  in  his  county,  as  to  quality  or  number,  except  that  of 
my  friend,  Mr.  Bradford,  saw  it  just  before  it  was  consumed  by  our  army.  The  sheep 
brought  $3J  to  $4  each,  which  now  are  worth  from  $75  to  $150  per  head.  So  alio  of  other 
fine  flocks  in  that  vicinity.  From  the  county  of  Clarke  was  driven  out  last  fall,  by  a  gen- 
tleman, late  a  member  of  this  House,  a  flock  of  400  of  the  sheep  of  the  Ware,  and  Bur- 
well,  and  other  fine  flocks  of  that  county;  they  passed  through  our  county  on  their  way 
here.  I  did  not  see  them.  They  were  described  to  me  by  an  intelligent  farmer  of  Rock- 
iugham  county,  who  had  seen  a  flock  that  I  had  driren  out  of  Berkeley  and  Frederick  the 
fall  before.  He  said  many  of  them  (they  were  all  •wes)  would  hare  weighed  '250  to  300 
lbs.  gross.  Think  of  it,  Mr.  Speaker,  these  were  among  the  finest  sheep  in  the  knmen  world, 
for  only  a  few  years  since,  Col.  Ware,  having  purchased  in  England  the  royal  prite  buck 
that  had  taken  the  highest  honors  at  their  national  exhibition,  brought  him  here,  and  at 
the  State  Fairs  of  Maryland  and  Virginia,  he  eclipsed,  by  far,  any  animal  in  competition 
with  him.  These  ewes  were  of  his  stock.  What  sacrilege  to  hare  destroyed  them.  1 
pronounce  it  sacrilege,  to  thus  destroy  the  seed  corn,  so  to  speak. 

Wc  will  suppose  the  per  cent,  of  consumption  by  the  army  at  25;  that  by  dogs  at  25; 
that  by  the  cities  and  towns,  and  in  the  country,  at  25 — in  all,  75  per  cent,  per  annum. 
Under  favorable  circumstances  sheep  will  increase  25  per  cent.  The  number  of  sheep  in 
Virginia  in  1860,  was  1,042,946;  add  25  per  cent.,  the  annual  increase  to  1,303,682,  and  de- 
duct 75  per  cent,  of  loss,  and  we  are  reduced  to  325,921  head.  Estimate  the  wool  at  3 
lbs.  each — 967,763  lbs.  Half  of  this  lost  to  us  by  the  enemy.  What  a  sad  picture.  This 
consumption  will  continue,  unless  checked  by  prompt  legislation  of  the  most  stringent 
kind. 

Until  within  a  few  weeks  past,  of  all  the  sheep  killed  in  the  army,  the  pelts  were  dis- 
posed of,  at  a  ruinous  loss  to  the  government.  Tbe  wool  was  lost  to  them  entirely.  Lately, 
they  give  the  skins  to  the  tanner,  to  return  them  the  wool  washed. 

In  1840,  in  a  report  of  the  State  Agricultural  Society,  of  Ohio,  Gov.  Trimble  says,  the 
annual  loss  of  sheep  destroyed  by  dogs  was  $600,000,  an  interest  on  $600,000. 

There  seems  to  be  an  ai)solute  passion,  existing  in  all  ranks  of  life,  to  keep  thrice  as 
miny  dogs  as  are  required  for  any  useful  purpose.  The  amount  of  food  consumed  by 
them  now,  when  it  is  difficult  for  many  of  the  poor  to  survive,  is  alarming.  [See  Appen- 
dix.] By  a  calculation  there  made,  it  will  be  seen  what  number  of  children,  up  to  14 
years  of  age,  might  be  raised  on  the  food  consumed  by  this  worthless  class  of  animals; 
also,  what  number  of  hogs  can  be  raised.  Will  not  these  figures  open  the  eyes  of  our 
people,  to  the  heavy  tax  they  are  paying  for  this  luxury?  I  am  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
there  is  some  difference  in  dogs,  and  will  not  indulge  a  wholesale  denunciation  of  them. 
I  speak  of  that  pestiferouss  breed,  whether 

"  Puppy,  mongrel,  whelp  or  hound, 
Or  cur  of  low  degree," 

that  is  constantly  preying  on  our  flocks.     His  vicious  propensity  is  strikingly  portrayed  in 
the  following  lines: 

"  Alone  in  wanton  mischief  he  pursues, 
Alone  in  reeking  blood  his  jaws  imbrues: 
Chasing  amain  his  frightened  victims  run  ml. 
Till  death  in  wild  confusion  strews  the  ground, 
Then  wearied  out,  to  kennel  sneaks  away, 
Ami  licks  his  guilty  pawito  break  of  day." 

It  is  characteristic  of  this  sheep-stealing  dog,  that  he  has  the  sagacity  to  leave  his  mas- 
ter's Hocks  unmolested,  and  travels  off  miles  from  home  in  pursuit  of  other  people's.  He 
is  often  accompanied  by  his  owner,  in  the  person  of  a  slave,  who  has  trained  him,  and  it 
rather  aggravates  the  offence,  that  with  respect  both  to  the  thief  and  his  dog,  it's  ten  to  one 
but  the  owner  answers  to  the  name  of  Ciesar  or  1'ompey,  while  the  dog  implies  the  oppo- 
site of  what  he  is;  so  true  is  it  that 

" a  cur  may  bear 

The  name  of  Tiger,  Lion,  or  whatever 
Denotes  the  noblest  or  the  fairest  l>east." 

ll  will  be  admitted  the  estimate  of  the  number  of  dogs  in  the  State  at  500,000  is  quite 
too  low.  There  is  more  than  one  to  every  three  inhabitants.  But  at  the  data  assumed, 
the  politico-economic  considerations  in  these  times,  is  a  startling  one.  Taking  the  heavy 
loss  of  sheep  killed  into  the  calculation,  which  we  may,  in  passing,  estimate  at  25  per 
rent,  of  the  whole  number  in  Virginia  in  I860,  viz:  1,042,946,  making  260,236  head,  worth 

now,  say  $50  per  head,  a  low  estimate,  and  we  have $13,011,800 

Allowing  two  dogs  to  each  hog  raised — value  of  each  hog  $100,  gives 25,000,000 

Estimate  the  value  of  carcass  for  oil  at  I  gallon  each,  $15  00, 7,500,000 

"  skins  dressed,  at  $38  00  each 19,000,000 

You  have  this  remarkable  exhibit, , $64,511,800 

2 


10 

Is  not  the  sum  of  sixty-four  millions  ofjiullars,  an  item  worthy  of  consideration,  especially 
when,  in  realizing  it,  you  abate,  as  ali~will  allow,  &  great  nuisance!  There  are  other  eco- 
nomic considerations  connected  with  the  subject.  In  a  large  class  of  dogs  their  pelts  are 
covered  with  a  soft,  long  hair,  so  thick  as  to  make  it  necessary  to  shear  them  in  warm 
weather.  It  is  as  valuable  as  the  coarsest  description  of  our  hairy  wool,  and  can  well  he 
carded,  spun  and  woven  into  cloth — and  the  better  if  mixed  with  the  refuse  wools.  One 
of  the  best,  and  most  durable  and  handsomest  carpets  1  ever  saw,  was  made  of  eoic's  hair 
and  hip  lock  \cool,  as  it  is  called.  It  was  easily  carded,  spun  and  woven.  If  a  hair,  as 
short  as  that  of  the  cow,  can  enter  inio  coarse  fabrics,  and  be  conveniently  manipulated, 
how  much  more  so  the  long  hair  of  this  valueless  animal?  But  to  encourage  this  economic 
view,  new,  when  we  must  improvise  any  thing,  that  will  shield  our  soldiers  from  the  in- 
clemency of  winter,  and  protect  our  slaves,  now  passing  through  the  city  by  thousands,  to 
take  their  places  as  iaborors  on  the  fortifications,  it  behooves  us  to  do  it.  Pardon  me  for 
saying,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  when  a  friend  described  tome  the  melancholy  procession  of  200 
slaves  from  his  county,  (Halifax,)  as  they  passed  through  two  evenings  since,  I  could  not 
but  feel  that  an  escort  of  some  of  the  military  of  the  city  might,  with  propriety,  have  pre- 
ceded them,  with  arms  reversed,  and  the  band  playing  "the  dead  march  in  Saul."  Judging 
by  the  sad  experience  of  last  fall  and  winter,  when  so  many  of  them  marched  there,  and 
usually  with  joyous  countenances,  which  is  the  reverse  of  their  appearance  now,  andnever 
more  to  visit  the  homes  of  their  childhood,  I  do  not  think  the  picture  too  highly  drawn.  A 
want  of  sufficient  clothing  is-evidently  now  to  be  seen,  and  it  is  experienced  everywhere. 
But  pardon  this  digression,  sir.  1  was  speaking  of  cow's  hair  and  coarse  wool,  as  consti- 
tuting a  cheap  and  durable  cloth.  I  am  confirmed  in  this  opinion,  in  an  interview,  a  few 
•venings  ago,  with  an  intelligent  lady  of  Yadkin  county,  N.  C,  who  informed  me  she  had, 
for  some  time,  used  it  in  making  her  servant's  clothing;  and  that  it  was  soft,  durable,  and 
easily  worked.  The  materials  can  be  worked  on  the  wool  hand-cards.  She  deprecated 
the  working  of  the  tithe  law,  so  far  as  wool  was  concerned,  that  it  would  deprive  fami- 
lies from  making  up  socks  to  send  to  their  friends  in  the  army.  Examining  the  books  of 
the  Q.  M.  General's  office  here,  I  am  satisfied  the  10th  of  wool  received  by  the  Confederate 
States  will  not  clothe  the  clerks  in  the  department.  She  remarked  that  most  of  the  carpeting, 
both  of  churches  and  private  families,  had  been  cut  up  and  sent  to  the  army  from  that 
sectien  of  North  Carolina. 

Mr.  Speaker,  in  a  debate  a  few  nights  ago,  on  the  bill  to  suppress  "gambling,"  it  was  al- 
leged there  were  in  this  city  164  gambling  saloons.  A  friend  consulted,  thinks  the  amount 
ef  carpeting  in  each  saloon  would  average  100  yards  each — equal  to  16,400  yards.  The 
carpeting  is  of  the  best  kind,  worth  $5  per  yard,  say  $82,000.  I  am  not  a  friend  to  im- 
pressment under  any  circumstances,  yet,  if  justifiable  at  all  by  government,  it  would  be  in 
this  case. 

But  to  return  t»  the  statistics  as  to  dogs.  An  intelligent  member  of  the  legisla- 
ture of  Georgia,  now  in  this  city,  informs  me  that  his  State,  almost  ever  since  the 
commencement  of  the  war,  has  abstained  from  using  sheep  for  food.  In  an  enter- 
prise for  manufacturing  cttton  and  wool  cards  for  her  people,  that  she  has  been  engaged 
in  for  some  two  years  or  more,  it  was  found  impossible  to  procure  suitable  leather 
to  make  the  lining  to  hold  the  %oire,  creating  the  consumption  of  a  large  number  of 
sheep,  to  get  the  skins.  It  was  suggested  that  dog  skins  would  make  an  excellent 
substitute,  indeed,  better  than  sheep,  as  'being  more  tough.  The  result  has  been  the 
almost  entire  destruction  of  dogs  for  that  purpose.  The  great  want  of  cards  induced  the 
people,  through  their  representatives  in  the  legislature,  to  make  immediate  application  at 
the  factory.  To  induce  the  supply  of  leather,  the  obtaining  cards,  was  placed  upon  the 
furnishing  of  it,  by  "those  applying.  As  my  informant  said,  the  appearance  presented  at 
the  next  meeting  of  the  legislature,  was  amusing;  members  were  seen  wending  their 
way  to  Milledgeville,  from  all  parts  of  the  State,  each  in  charge  of  a  lot  of  peltry,  or  dog 
skins,  if  you  choose,  as  the  contributions  of  his  constituents,  to  enable  him  to  procure 
the  cards,  without  ichich,  the  loved  ones  in  the  army  in  Virginia,  and  elsewhere,  could 
not  be  clothed.  All  honor  to  those  ichole  souled  delegates,  I  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  worthy  de- 
scendants of  those  of  '76,  who  were  not  ashamed  to  appear  in  buckskin  in  the  Half 
of  Burgesses,  or  in  the  drawing  room,  or  in  the  tented  field.  How  many  delegates 
on  this  floor,  are  there,  who  would  do  likewise?  Few  in  number,  I  much  fear,  sir,  and 
yet,  are  we  any  better,  than  our  brothers  in  Georgia?  I  trow  not,  sir.  It  may  be, 
before  this  war  shall  be  waged  many  years  longer,  we  will  be  willing  enough  to 
not  only  bring  here,  those  articles  that  may  subserve  the  comfort  of  those  at 
home  and  in  the  army,  but  to  wear  a  much  more  humble  garb  than  that  many  of  us 
think,  comports  with  our  dignity  and  importance  now.  May  it  be  otherwise.  I  hope 
I  may,  in  this  connection  say,  that  our  mothers,  wives  and  sisters,  in  the  country,  now, 
and  for  a  long  time  past,  have  been  submitting  to  a  most  rigid  system  of  economy  in 
dress  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  the  times,  and  are  clothing  themselves  in  homespun, 
and  changing  the  old  dresses,  to  make  th«m  new  again.  Are  their  sisters  in  this  city,  ri- 
valling them  in  economy  and  self-denial  ?  To  witness  the  sweeping  of  our  streeti  from 
one  end  of  the  city  daily,  in  mud  and  dust,  with  silks,  and  other  costly  dresses,  trailing  out 
sometimes  a  loot  or  two  behind,  soifed,  draggled  and  ruined,  would  induce  the  opinion 


II 

that  Lyons  and  Paris  and  Birmingham  were  in  easy  reach  of  us.  Could  the  fair  wear- 
ers, be  conscious  of  the  feelings  and  remarks,  this  needless  and  shameful  extravagance 
jives  expression  to,  methinks  the  practice  would  abat«.  The  times,  demand  a  change; 
'tis  an  example  coming  from  them,  would  have  a  deserved  influence. 

Mr.  Speaker,  as  I  remarked  before,  I  have  found  myself  trammelled  by  an  anxiety 
to  say  or  do  nothing,  in  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  that  would,  in  the  slightest  de- 
cree, do  us  injury,  in  putting  the  enemy  in  possession  of  information,  that  might  enure 
to  our  prejudice.  I  do  indulge  the  hope  I  may  have  done  so.  I  know  the  great  prej- 
udice of  sitting  with  closed  doors.  And  the  information  I  wish  to  influence  the  minds 
of  members,  and  our  constituents,  and  not  them  only,  but  the  people  of  the  South- 
ern Confederacy,  could  only  be  imparted  here.  This  question  must  be  met,  and 
that  immedittlely,  by  the  entire  South.  It  is  the  most  momentous  one,  except  the  question 
of  food,  that  can  be  presented  to  us. 

"Tlien.  shepherds',  then  begin  to  spare  your  flocks, 
And  learn  with  wise  humanity  to  check 
The  lust  of  blood," 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  may  be  indulged  in  saying  there  has  been  a  most  striking  want  of 
that  cheap,  yet  e.cceedsngly  rare  and  scarce  article,  usually  known  as  common  sense,  not  onlv 
as  it  regards  the  management  of  State,  butof  Confederate  Government  affairs.  We  have  had 
many,  very  many,  lessons  since  our  troubles  commenced,  yet  we  have  failed  to  profit  by 
past  experience.  The  reckless  and  cruel  waste  and  extravagance  everywhere,  in  man- 
agement of  army  matters,  has  called  for  redress,  yet  it  is  not  attempted.  Take  the  sup- 
plying of  the  army  with  beef,  as  an  illustration.  Enough  of  that,  in  the  first  two  years 
of  the  war,  was  wasted,  thrown  away,  or  fed  to  the  thrifty  camp-scavengers,  the  hogs, 
to  have  furnished  the  entire  army  six,  if  not  twelve  months.  This  is  not  all.  Soap 
has  become  a  serious  article  of  necessity,  and  has  risen  20  hundred  per  cent,  in  price. 
The  army,  when  in  quarters,  through  the  fall  and  winter,  has  swept  away  the  forests  as" 
fuel,  accumulating  ashes  of  the  best  quality,  because  of  green  wood,  by  thousands  and 
thousands  of  bushels.  In  slaughtering  for  the  army  the  offal  of  tallow,  has  been  lost 
to  the  government,  being  given,  in  most  cases,  to  the  parties  butchering.  The  hides 
were,  also,  for  a  long  time,  at  the  commencement  of  the  war,  at  a  consideration  so 
low  as  to  amount  to  the  same  thing.  It  would  have  been  a  comfortable  relaxation 
to  hundreds  of  the  soldiers,  in  camp,  to  have  been  engaged  in  making  soap  and  candles, 
and  thus  have  supplied  two  great  and  indispensable  articles  of  comfort.  Except  the  larger 
portions  of  tallow,  which  also  enuted  to  the  butcher,  the  remainder  was  either  fed  to  hogs 
and  dogs,  or  buried,  to  cleanse  the  camp.  Will  any  one  calculate  the  loss  to  the  govern- 
ment? In  the  article  of  leather,  we  not  only  have  been,  but  are  now  very  scarce,  and 
the  price,  like  that  of  wool,  has  gone  up  to  astounding  figures.  All  made  now  is  unequal  to 
that,  made  before  the  war.  Why  so,  sir?  Because  of  the  want  of  that  only  ingredient 
necessary  to  make  the  best  leather,  neat's-foot  oil.  The  blockade  has  cut  off  fish  oil.  The 
former  is  much  superior,  and  enough  could  have  been  made,  to  have  dressed  all  the  leather 
in  the  South.  1  assert  this,  that  1  do  know.  In  the  several  camps,  since  the  war  com- 
menced, the  feet  of  all  the  animals  slaughtered,  would,  with  thateconomy  thatwould  have 
characterized  any  man,  of  a  small  modicum  of  common  sense,  in  the  management  of  his 
business,  at  home,  have  furnished  oil,  of  this  kind,  fully  sufficient,  to  the  wants  of  the 
government.  Within  twenty  miles,  of  one  of  our  small  encampments,  last  winter, 
Mr.  Speaker,  I  requested  the  commissary  to  have  the  feet  put  in  some  of  the  wag- 
ons, passing  me  every  day,  and  I  had  the  oil  extracted,  giving  the  government  half.  The 
result  was  oil  enough  to  dress  two  to  three  hundred  sides,  of  leather.  A  large  part  of  the 
feet,  one-third,  or  half,  had  been  destroyed,  before  any  were  sent  me.  At  same  time, 
having  a  surplus  of  worthless  curs,  I  had  them  disposed  of  in  similar  way.  The  yield  of 
oil  was  nearly  or  quite  two  gallons  to  the  dog — and  they  medium  sized.  The  substitute 
for  oil,  to  dress  leather,  now  used,  rosin  oil  of  North  Carolina,  is  ruinous  to  it,  as  any  hon- 
est tanner  will  tell  you.  Now,  sir,  if  there  had  been  enough  of  common  sense  with  those, 
directing  and  managing  these  things,  that  amount  requisite" to  conduct  properly,  business 
at  home,  ought  not  the  result  to  have  been  different?  I  must  submit  these,  to  serve  as 
instances,  that  will  prove  my  assertion  to  be  correct,  and  hasten  on;  for  I  find  the  diffi- 
culty to  be,  not  what  to  say,  but  what  ought,  not  to  be  said,  and  if  I  err,  in  this  latter  regard, 
I  do  it,  assuredly,  from  no  motive  to  prejudice  the  cause  I  advocate,  or  derogate  from  or  in- 
jure the  government,  which  commands  my  sincerest  wishes  for  its  success. 

"  Love  me,  love  my  dog,"  is  an  adage  so  common,  that  it  may  be  supposed  to  have  its 
root,  as  it  ought,  in  every  man's  heart.  Man  has  not  a  more  faithful  servant  than  a  dog. 
Amongst  our  fellow  men  we  find,  alas!  great  variableness.  The  loss  of  fortune,  or  of 
power,  or  of  health,  each  has  its  result.  Friends  who  once  rallied  around  us,  in  sickness 
or  sorrow,  shrink  from  the  test;  but  the  dog  never  changes  feelings  towards  us — he  is  al- 
ways the  same.  Faithful  to  his  master,  he  lays  at  his  feet  his  courage,  strength  and  tal- 
ents, and  only  waits  his  commands  to  fill  his  will;  he  is  always  ready  to  forgive,  and 
will  lick  the  hand  that  gave  him  pain — in  this,  a  good  example  to  us  all.     To  a  question 


12 

as  to  the  nobility  of  the  horse  and  the  dog,  and  their  comparative  claims  on  our  regard,  a 
lady,  with  that  nice  sense  of  discrimination,  which  belongs  to  the  sex,  said: — "Ah!  the 
horse  is  the  faithful  servant  of  man,  but  the  dog  is  his/rie?id." 

These  remarks,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  regard  as  applicable,  to  that  noblest  specimen  of  the  dog, 
the  sheplierd's,  the  stock,  no  doubt,  from  which  every  sort  has  sprung.  And  that  class,"  1 
desire  to  see  excepted  from  the  provisions  of  this  bill.  I  think  their  introduction  should  be 
encouraged.  Some  years  since,  sir,  I  saw  one  of  the  Messrs.  Patterson,  of  Washington 
county,  Pa. ,  alone,  bring  several  hundred  sheep  through  our  mountains,  aided  by  two  of 
these  beautiful,  sagacious  animals,  all  the  distance  from  his  home,  in  Pa.,  to  the  exten- 
sive sheep  walks  they  had,  in  Bedford  county,  of  our  State.  I  would  here  refer,  to  this 
dock  of  the  Messrs.  Patterson,  in  connection  with  that  finest  of  sheep  range — the  Pied- 
mont region  of  Virginia,  lest  I  do  not  think  of  it  again — to  say,  that  an  extensive  wool- 
dealer,  in  New  York,  in  1851,  when  collecting:  specimens  of  wool,  from  every  part  of  the 
United  States,  for  exhibition  at  the  World's  Fair,  in  London,  to  the  one  from  this  flock  of 
the  Pattersons,  the  premium  ivas  awarded,  and  it,  but  one,  out  of  one  hundred  specimens. 
To  those  seeking  information  about  this  noble  variety  of  shepherd  dog,  I  refer  to  a  letter 
from  Geo.  W.  Lafayette,  to  the  late  John  S.  Skinner,  to  be  found  in  the  Plow,  Loom  and 
Anvil,  vol.  4,  p.  137. 

I  cannot  let  the  opportunity  pass,  of  paying  a  deserved  tribute  to  this  man,  John  S. 
Skinner,  late  of  Maryland,  who  was,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  a  benefactor  of  his 
race. 

"Peace  hatli  its  victories  uo  less  renowned 
Thau  war," 

and  this  great  man,  in  his  Jong  and  most  useful  life,  achieved  them,  at  every  turn.  Next 
to  the  reputation  of  that  noble  citizen,  of  our  own  State  M.  F.  Maury,  I  regard  the  repu- 
tation of  the  lamented  Skinner.  And  yet  no  marble  monument,  erected  by  those 
whom  he  faithfully  served  for  thirty  years,  may  mark  the  spot  where  his  remains  repose; 
no  gathering  of  thousands,  and  public  eulogy  may  express  to  the  world  the  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held;  but  will  those  in  whose  cause  he  spent  the  strong  years  of  his  life — 
the  farmers  of  America — will  they  reap  the  fruit  of  his  labors,  and  decline  to  pay  him 
his  hire?  His  was  the  first  voice  that  was  heard  claiming  for  agriculture,  its  rights  as  a 
science."  1  shall  have  occasion,  before  1  can  close,  to  refer  to  other  distinguished  men, 
who  have  rendered  service  to  their  country,  and  though  one  or  two  of  them  happened  to 
be  born  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  they,  nevertheless,  are  entitled  to  our  warmest 
gratitude; for  the  benefits  we  have  derived  from  their  writings  and  agricultural  wisdom. 
I  mention  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  of  whom  ii  was  said  by  a  distinguished  man,  "  he 
did  more  for  Agriculture  than  any  man  in  America;"  the  venerable  Edmund  Ruthin.  Jesse 
Cuel,  Henry  S  Randall  and  Lewis  Gay  lord,  the  three  last  of  New  York.  Posterity  will 
write,  in  imperishable  characters,  on  their  tombstone*,  benefuctors  of  their  race. 

I  must  now  trespass  upon  the  attention  of  the  House,  Mr.  Speaker,  long  enough  to  pre- 
sent some  facts,  that  will  show,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  territory  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  this  Southern  Confederacy,  is  preeminently  entitled  to  be  designated 
as  better  adapted  to  sheep  husbandry  than  any  portion  of  the  world.  But  before  doing  so, 
1  must  urge  upon  this  house,  as  one  of  the  strongest  arguments,  in  support  of  this  bill, 
this  consideration.  The  territory  now  comprised  in  the  limits  before  designated,  as  not 
being  overrun,  by  the  enemy,  besides  furnishing  to  the  Southern  Confederacy,  its  wool, 
and  its  mutton,  has  another  obligation  resting  on  it,  of  most  serious  import,  it  will  have 
to  re-stock  all  the  territory  now  overrun  by  the  enemy,  with  sheep,  of  its  own  production.  Why 
so,  sir?  Because  all  that  large  belt  of  debateable  ground,  alternately  in  the  hands  of  both 
armies,  is  now,  and  will  continue  to  be,  almost  entirely  destitute  of  sheep.  That  portion  of 
Northwest  Virginia,  that  has  been  less  interrupted,  Missouri,  Kentucky,  and  West  Tennes- 
see, will  be  robbed  of  all  its  sheep,  belonging  to  disloyal  or  Southern  men,  as  the  enemy  des- 
ignate; u«,  for  it  is  notorious,  they  have  been  robbed  of  almost4every  thing. 'Should  the  war 
terminate  in  a  short  time,  how  will  it  affect  all  the  region,  now  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
as  regards  their  cattle,  sheep,  &c  ?  Why,  in  this  way,  sir.  All  the  Union  population, 
conscious  of  the  severe  retribution  that  will  await  them,  at  the  hands  of  those  much 
wronged  and  cruelly  treated,  sympathizers  with  the  South,  will  commence,  in  time,  to  get 
their  dastardly  carcasses,  into  a  safe  place,  and  will  flee,  with  their  flocks  and  herds,  out  of 
Missouri  into  Kansas,  Iowa  and  Illinois,  out  of  Tennessee,  and  Kentucky,  across  the  Ohio, 
mid  from  Northwest  Virginia,  into  Ohio  and  Pennslyvania,  and  not  with  theirs  only,  but 
with  alt  of  Southern  sympathizers,  they  had  previously  stolen,  or  will  then  steal.  Not 
one  wilt  be  left,  and  the  country  will  be  left  as  scarred  and  blasted,  as  the  plains  of  Lom- 
bard)-, by  the  barbaric  hosts  of  Alaric,  the  Visigoth.  This  is  no  fancy  sketch,  sir,  but 
will  be,  a  sad  reality.  How  can  it  be  prevented?  We  will  be  powerless  to  do  it.  They 
will  scent  danger  from  afar,  with  all  the  keenness  of  perception,  that  the  Condor  of  the 
Andes  will  trace  out  the  wounded  deer  amid  the  far  off  crags  of  the  Huallaga.  What  will 
be  our  duty,  then, sir?  An  obligation  of  the  most  solemn  character,  will  compel  us,  to 
'share  with  them,  our  flocks  and  our  herds.     Can  we  do  it,  if  the  present  state  of  things 


13 

exist.'  Unquestionably  not.  Our  own  section  of  country,  Texas  included,  cannot  be 
much  better  off  than  the  overrun  portion.  By  the  reckless  destruction  of  army  and  people. 
and  dugs,  this  useful  animal  will  be  exterminated.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  In  a  time  of 
peace,  with  care  and  attention,  a  flock  doubles  itself  in  four  years.  Now,  with  all  the 
ncgleet  consequent  on  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country,  and  man,  and  beast  preying 
on  it,  how  can  it  increase?  This  is  not  all.  The  few  sections  of  the  country,  in  which 
there  were  animals  of  pare  blood,  of  the  several  varieties,  such  as  Merino,  Saxon,  South- 
down, Cotswold,  &.c,  will  be  destitute  of  them.  Without  them,  it  will  be  next  to  impos- 
sible, to  improve  the  common  stock  of  the  South.  This  is  a  serious  aspect  of  the  case, 
and  no  less  serious  than  true;  and  yet  members  will  permit,  cobweb  difficulties  to  pie- 
vent  them  from  a  cheerful  support  of  this'bill.  Mr.  .Speaker,  in  the  present  condition  of 
our  flocks,  it  would  take  three  to  four  years  of  peace,  to  increase  them,  to  the  number  we 
had  on  1st  January,  1861.  Yes,  more  time,  would  be  necessary.  The  increase  in  ten 
Hears,  in  Virginia,  from  1359  to  IS'GU,  was  less  than  a  million  pounds  of  wool,  and  this, 
under  the  incentive  created  by  our  State  and  county  Agricultural  Societies,  the  numerous 
importations  by  our  best  breeders,  and  the  personal  rivally  which"  such  a  state  of  facts 
created.  If  there  was  so  paltry  an  increase,  as  814,164  lbs.  of  wool,  in  ten  years,  of  pro- 
found peace,  it  is  not  extravagant  to  say,  four  years  of  war  will  exterminate  the  entire 
flock.  The  numerous  "dogs  of  war,"  and  the  stimulus  to  avarice,  of  50  and  60  cents  per 
pound  gross,  added  to  canine  rapacity,  the  result  is  inevitable.  We  must  act  note,  sir,  or 
return  to  a  stale  of  nature,  for  we  cannot  even  clothe  ourselves  in  skins — they,  too.  will  he 
gone.  For  the  indissoluble  attachment  which  seems  to  exist  between  members  and  the  dog, 
or  the  dog's  master,  it  may  be,l  would  not  like  to  say,  sir,  which  it  is,  would  not  even  al- 
low us  poor  Tray's  hide,  to  hide  us,  so,  disagreeable  as  is  the  alternative,  tee  must  stay  out 
in  the  cold. 

I  now  return  to  my  proposition,  announced  a  short  time  ago,  which  was  to  illustrate  the 
capacity  of  the  South  as  preeminently  adapted  to  "sheep  husbandry."  I  will  draw  on  va- 
rious sources  for  my  facts,  on  many  of  our  own  intelligent  and  practical  writers,  on  that 
subject,  and  who  have  been  large  raisers  of  sheep.  But  in  the  series  of  letters  of  Henry 
S.  Randall  to  II.  F.  W.  A  Us  ton,  of  S.  C,  published,  at  the  instance  of  John  S.  Skinner,  in 
184!),  1  find  the  most  of  the  facts,  1  will  rely  on,  Bet  forth.  1  will  also  draw  some  of  them 
from  personal  observation,  knowledge  and  experience. 

The  Hon.  And.  Stevenson,  in  a  letter  to  John  S.  Skinner,  says,  "The  prejudice 
which  the  late  Col.  John  Taylor,  of  Caroline,  had  atrainst  sheep,  has  been  the  means 
of  rendering  this  description  of  stock  Unpopular  in  many  parts  of  the  Southern  country. 
If  this  distinguished  patriot  and  sta  ad  lived,  at  this  day,  he  would  have  changed 

hisopinion."  It  is  probable  also,  thatjhese  prejudices  are  referable,  in  a  degree,  to  the 
concurrent  opinion  of  the  i.o  less  eclebrafed  John  Randolph,  of  "Roanoke,"  who,  even 
on  the  floor  of  Congress,  g*ve  them  utterance,  in  vehement  and  bitter  denunciation, 
against  the  iiarmless  r  imal  itself,  going  so  far  in  his  animosity  io  it,  and  to  all  encour- 
agement of  the  great  industry  which  it  was  formed  in  subserve,  as  to  declare,  that  he. 
would  a!  any  time  go  out  of  his  v,j> ,  "to  kick  a  sheep." 

A  prejudice,  or  more  properly,  n  mistaken  idea,  has  been  entertained,  Mr  Speaker, 
by  our  people  of  the  South,  that  it  is  too  -'-arm  for  sheep  to  flourish.  Sheep  have  been 
bred  from  the  period  at  Which  the  shepherds  on  the  Plains  of  Bethlehem  watched  their 
Hacks,  down  to  the  present-time,  on  the  eastern  continent,  from  the  equator  to  the  65th 
degree,  n.  1,  from  the  burning  plains  of  Africa  and  Asia,  to  the  almost  perpeiual 
frosts  of  Iceland.  The  Merino  (the  different  families  of  which,  as  will  be  shown,  con- 
stitute the  only  varieties  suitable  for  wool-growing,  on  a  scale  of  any  considerable  extent,) 
has  been  bred  in  Europe  as  far  sonth  as  between  the  .'16lh  and  37th  parallels  of  lati- 
tude, and  has.  within  the  last  few  years,  been  acclimated,  with  perfect  success,  as  far 
north  as  various  points  in  Sweden.  If  any  difficulty  exists  in  the  South,  in  the  climate, 
rendering  it  unsuitable  for  the  rearing  of  sheep  and  wool,  it  must  be  its  heat;  and  this  must 
alfect  the  wool-i>rvducing  qualities  of  the  animal  alone,  and  not  its  health.  Sheep  flour- 
ish in  the  healthiest  condition,  on  the  hammock  and  swamp  lands,  in  Florida,  as  far 
south  as  the  29th  degree.  As  fine  mutton  as  is  found  anywhere,  is  brought  to  Charles- 
ton market,  from  the  rice  swamps  of  Florida,  and  similar  lands  in  S.  C.  In  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Alabama  and  Georgia,  they  not  only  flourish  in  the  northern  and  more 
elevated  sections,  but  on  The  low,  fenny,  tide-water  region,  which  skirts  the  "  Gulf  of 
Mexico."  No  portion  of  the  Southern  States,  is  lever,  hotter,  or  more  unhealthy,  than 
much  of  the  preceding,  and  none,  according  to  commonly  received  notions,  would  be  mora 
unsuited  to  the  healthy  production  of  sheep.  Yet,  that  Iney  are  just  as  healthy  there,  Mr. 
Speaker,  as  amid  our  mountains,  is  a  matter  of  notoriety,  to  all  conversant  with  the  facts. 
If  the  health  of  the  animal  is  not  affected  injuriously,  is  its  wool-producing  qualities.'  I 
will  here  give  a  brief  table,  giving  the  weight  of  wool  per  head,  in  the  Southern  States 
mentioned,  comparing  them  with  New  York,  and  with  the  census  of  1840. 


14 


Virginia, 
N.  Carolina, 
S.  Carolina, 

lib. 

1 

1 

7Toz. 

21 

3| 

Alabama, 

Mississippi, 

Louisiana, 

lib.  4 
1        4' 
0       8 

Georgia, 
Florida, 

1 
1 

4? 

New  Y 

oik 

lib. 

Tennessee, 
Kentucky, 
2i  ozs. 

1        4? 
1       7 

But  these  census  returns  are  shamefully  inaccurate,  for  in  14  counties  in  Louisiana,  for 
instance,  30,261  sheep  are  returned,  or  nearly  one-third  of  the  whole  number  in  the  Stale, 
and  yet  not  a  pound  of  wool  is  returned.  In  a  larger  table,  including  four  counties  from 
each  of  the  above  States,  taking  the  averages  as  a  test,  it  would  appear  that  the  difference 
between  the  average  products  of  the  Southern  States  and  New  York  is,  in  some  instances, 
in  favor  of  the  former.  Kentucky  in  the  middle,  and  Mississippi  in  the  extreme  South, 
exceed  the  average  of  New  York.  The  facts  reported  fully  sustain  the  assertion,  that 
warmth  of  temperature,  at  least,  to  a  point  equaling  the  higest  mean  temperature,  in  the 
Southern  States  is  not  injurious,  but  absolutely  productive  of  wool.  The  reasons  are  ob- 
vious. Warm  climates  afford  green  and  succulent  herbage,  during  a  greater  part  of  the 
year,  than  cold  ones.  Green  feed  keeps  a  sheep  in  high  condition,  which  promotes  those 
secretions  which  form  wool.  Every  one  knows  that  a  sheep  kept  fleshy,  all  the  year  round, 
will  yield  more  wool  than  a  poor  one.  Now  sir,  as  the  effect  of  climate,  upon  the  quality 
of  wool,  it  may  be  well  to  say  briefly,  that  wool  seems  to  be  finer  in  cold,  and  coarser  in 
warm  climates.  This  is  usually  attributed,  by  theorists,  to  the  effect  of  cold  and  heat,  in 
contracting  or  expanding  the  pores.  The  more  reasonable  plan  of  accounting  for  it  is,  in 
the  amount  and  quality  of  nutriment.  The  effect  of  warm  climates  and  green  food  is,  to 
increase  the  quantity  or  weight  of  the  fleece.  The  weight  is  increased,  by  increasing 
the  length  and  thickness  of  the  separate  fibres.  Mr.  Youatt,  in  his  excellent  work  on 
"sheep,"  after  discussing  and  admitting  the  influence  to  some  extent,  of  warm  tempera- 
ture, to  render  wool  coarser,  says,  "Pasture  has  a  far  greater  influence  on  the  fineness  of 
the  fleece.  The  staple  is  increased,  in  bulk  and  length,  like  every  other  part  of  the  sheep, 
if  it  has  a  superabundance  of  nutriment."  Dr.  Perry,  a  correct  and  able  English  writer, 
says,  "the  fineness  of  a  sheep's  fleece,  of  a  given  breed  is,  within  certain  limits,  inversely, 
as  its  fatness,  and  perhaps,  also,  as  the  quickness  of  its  growth  in  fat.  A  fat  sheep,  has 
usually  comparatively  coarse  wool,  and  one  which  is  lean,  either  from  want  of  food,  or 
disease,  has  the  finest  wool;  and  the  very  same  sheep  may,  at  different  times,  according  to 
these  circumstances,  have  fleeces  of  all  intermediate  qualities,  from  extreme  fineness  to 
comparative  coarseness."  Samuel  Lawrence,  the  head  of  the  great  Lowell  Manuf'g  Co. 
Bays,  "that  the  properties  of  wooi  are  affected  by  herbage  and  soil,  1  have  no  doubt,  and 
were  it  not  invidious,  I  would  name  some  sections  where  wool-growers  are  greatly  fa- 
vored by  nature.  One  thing  is  certain,  whatever  may  be  the  character  of  the  soil,  where 
there  are  good  shepherds,  there  is  sure  to  be  good  wool.  By  care  in  crossing,  I  believe  a 
breed  may  be  reared,  which  will  give  four  pounds  of  exquisitely  fine  wool  to  the  fleece." 

Any  part  of  Virginia  is  admirably  adapted  to  wool-growing.  To  show  the  extraordi- 
nary products  obtained,  we  append  the  shearing  of  the  flock  of  the  late  Richard  K. 
Meade,  of  Clark  county,  of  1849.  They  show  what  may  be  accomplished  by  giving  the 
force  of  a  clear  and  determined  mind  to  the  attainment  of  improvements  in  any  particular 
branch  of  agriculture,  as  Mr.  Meade  did  his  to  that  of  sheep  husbandry.  These  facts  show 
that  the  climate  and  soil  of  Virginia,  is  well  adapted  to  the  highest  development  of  that 
animal  for  all  its  useful  purposes.  We  here  condense  the  statement  of  the  weights  of  Mr. 
Meade's  fleeces: — Seven  year  old  rams  averaged  13  9-10  lbs.;  two  year  old,  9  lbs.;  two 
2  year  old  wethers,  9J  lbs.;  eight  1  year  old  wethers,  9|  lbs.;  ten  yearling  wethers,  9£  lbs.; 
fourteen  ewes  averaged  6  3-7  lbs.;  twenty-one  ewes  was  10  fi-16  lbs.;  ditto  of  35  ewes  was 
6  11-16  lbs.     Have  these  weights  been  equalled  by  any  other  flock  in  the   United  States? 

Australia  and  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  are  in  33°,  55'  and  34°,  23'  south  latitude.  The 
heat  in  December,  in  vicinity  of  Port  Jackson,  same  latitude  with  Georgetown,  S.  C,  is 
112°,  Farenheat,  and  the  forests  and  grass  been  known  to  take  fire.  Cape  of  Good  Hope, 
the  mean  annual  temperature  is,  in  winter,  61°,  and  summer,  89°,  yet  in  both  of  these  re- 
gions, the  Merino  has  been  fully  acclimated,  and  the  quality,  of  wool  would  be  nearly 
equal  to  Spanish,  which,  in  London,  in  1844,  was  worth  per  lb.  60  to  77  cents,  when  Aus- 
tralian brought  50  cents  to  $1  per  lb.  Mr.  Clay,  in  1849,  to  Randall  says,  "I  have  for 
some  years,  had  only  pure  Saxony  at  my  residence,  (36°)  but  I  am  now  satisfied  I  would 
have  derived  more  profit  from  sheep  producing  a  wool  less  fine."  Mr.  M.  R.  Cockarill, 
of  Nashville,  Tenn.,  (lat.  37°,  15',)  says,  "I  have  1,000  fine  sheep,  and  400  to  500  long 
wooled  or  mutton  sheep.  With  my  Saxon,  from  our  mild  climate,  the  staple  has  become 
longer.  I  assert  it  as  a  fact,  that  the  cotton  region  I  am  now  in,  (Mr.  C.  dated  from  Madi- 
son county,  Miss.,  where  a  part  of  his  sheep  are  kept,  lat.  32°,)  is  better  than  any  country 
north  of  it,  to  grow  wool,  as  the  sheep  can  be  kept  all  the  time  grazing,  by  sowing  small 
grain;  for  grazed  off,  it  quickly  grows  again,  in  a  few  days;  and  the  wool  of  the  fine  Saxon 
sheep,  in  this  climate,  is  softer  and  more  cotton-like  than  any,  1  have  ever  seen,  although  I 
hare  samples  from  all  parts  of  the  world.    I  have  travelled  from  this  very  spot  to  Boston, 


15 

sampling  all  the  sheep  of  note,  on  the  way,  and  I  found  nothing,  on  my  journey  or  at  Bos- 
ton, as  good  as  the  wool  I  had  grown,  and  so  said  all  the  wool -staplers,  I  met  with,  and  they 
were  not  a  few.  I  did  not  presume  the  blood  of  my  sheep  any  better,  than  many  I  saw, 
but  the  superiority  of  the  wool,  I  ascribed  to  our  climate  and  succulent  f»od,  the  year  round. 
Weight  of  fleece  to  3  to  5*  pounds  each.  There  is  much  country  in  Tennessee  and  other 
Southern  States,  not  fit  for  the  plow,  that  would  be  admirably  adapted  to  fine  wtoled  sheep." 
Mr.  Stewart  Donaldson,  of  London,  a  merchant,  says,  "the  wools  of  New  South  Wales 
and  Van  Dieman's  L^nd,  are  decidedly  preferred  to  the  apparently  similar  descriptions 
of  wool  of  Germany.  They  have  a  softness  and  silkiness  about  them,  which,  when 
worked  into  cloth,  shows  more  distinctly  than  in  fleece.  I  conceive  it  to  be  dependent  on 
the  climate  alone.  1  am  of  the  opinion  no  wool  of  that  quality,  could  be  produced  in  any 
part  of  Europe."  Mr.  Elesworth,  a  wool  broker,  of  London,  says,  "theclimateof  New 
South  Wales,  appears  to  have  the  effect  on  wool  to  reduce  its  harshness  to  a  very  fine  tex- 
ture. "  The  country  (New  South  Wales)  is  remarkably.deficient  in  water,  though  ma»y  por- 
tions are  subject  to  destructive  inundations.  Its  drouths  unequalled  in  duration  and  inten- 
sity, perhaps,  in  no  other  part  of  the  inhabited  globe.  But  I  have  said  enough,  Mr.  Speaker, 
to  satisfy  the  most  skeptical,  that  the  South,  in  climate,  is,  perhaps,  better  adapted  than 
any  other  part  of  the  world,  to  sheep,  as  it  effects  length  of  fibre  and  fineness.  It  is  not 
subject  to  the  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  that  the  North  and  Northwest  are.  The  mean 
annual  range  of  the  thermomter  at  Eastport,  Me. ,  is'1040,  St.  Peters,  Iowa,  119°,  and 
Green  Bay,  Wisconsin,  123°.  Portland,  Miane,  Ft.  Niagra,  Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  99°,  92°, 
and  87°.  Ft.  Crawford,  confluence  Wisconsin  and  Mississippi  rivers,  120°.  While  the 
cold  of  the  Northern  and  Northwestern  States,  so  greatly  exceeds  that  of  the  Southern 
States,  few  would  believe  the  heat  in  the  former,  reached  a  degree  much  greater  than  the 
South.  Ft.  Snelling,  lat.  44°,  53',  and  in  central  position  in  that  vast  territory,  between 
the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Missouri  river,  between  41st  and  49th  par.  lat,  which 
may,  therefore,  be  supposed  to  afford  a  type  of  the  climate  of  that  whole  region,  feels  a 
maximum  heat  of  93°,  the  same  with  that  of  Washington  city,  38,  53,  and  Old  Point  Comfort, 
Va.,  370,  2*5  Ft.  Johnson,  N.  C,  34°,  the  maximum  heat  is  90°;  Ft.  Moultrie,  S.  C,  32° 
42' lat.,  is  90°;  Ft.  Marion,  Fla.  29°,  50',  is  92°;  Ft.  Brooke,  Tampa  Bay,  lat.  27° 
57',  92°;  Key  West,  the  extreme  southern  point  of  Florida,  is  89°.  Summer  heat  is 
higher  at  Fort  Snelling,  than  at  points  on  sea-board,  more  than  20°  farther  south!  These 
facts  of  temperature  show  conclusively,  the  Southern  sheep  grower  need  not  fear  compe- 
tition in  the  prairies  of  the  Northwest.  To  say  nothing  of  extreme  cold  and  heat,  the 
scarcity  of  water  in  the  prairies,  want  of  variety  in  herbage,  suitable  for  sheep,  and  the 
necessity  of  keeping  large  flocks  together,  trouble  of  separating,  danger  of  disease,  want 
of  shelter,  or  of  wood  for  buildings,  fencing,  &c. ,  and  long  winter  feeding  on  dry  food, 
settles  the  question  fully.  All  of  these  objections,  except  the  winter,  apply  to  Australia, 
Van  Dieman's  Land,  Cape  Good  Hope  and  Hungary  and  Spain,  but  in  different  degrees. 
In  the  two  first,  drouth,  violent  storms,  large  herds,  and  consequent  danger  of  malignant 
diseases,  and  the  immense  distance  from  the  markets  of  the  world,  are  all  serious  objec- 
tions they  have  to  contend  with.  Spain,  for  a  quarter  of  a  century  past,  has  fallen  on  in 
sheep  husbandry,  so  much,  as  to  be  scarcely  able  to  export  at  all.  From  an  interesting  ta- 
bic in  "Bischoff's"  comprehensive  history  of  the  woolen  and  worsted  manufacturers,  in 
1 840,  Spain  exports  less  wool  than  Italy  or  Russia,  and  still  on  the  decrease.  Once  so 
famous  for  her  wools,  she  has  sunk  to  a  sixth  rate  producer  of  this  staple.  The  late  Henry 
D.  Grove,  of  New  York,  a  native  of  Prussia-Saxony,  an  extensive  wool-grower,  and  so 
intelligent  a  one,  as  to  be  often  sent  to  Europe  to  purchase  the  finest  flocks,  for  enterpri- 
sing growers  of  wool  in  the  North,  in  a  communication  to  H.  L.  Randall,  Esq.,  said  of 
Germany,  Prussia  and  Austria,  that  neither  possessed  any  advantage  over  New  York, 
of  which  fact,  ten  years'  experience  had  fully  confirmed  him.  It  being  quite  apparent,  that 
no  part  of  the  Eastern  Continent  can  compete  with  this  country,  as  it  was  before  the 
secession  of  the  South,  in  the  production  of  wool,  let  us  inquire,  for  a  moment,  into 
the  relative  advantages  of  the  Southern  States  over  the  United  States,  in  this  article. 
As  before  stated  we  have  a  most  decided  advantage  in  soil,  climate  and  abundance  and 
variety  of  grasses.  There  is  no  part  of  the  South,  even  including  the  Pan  Handle  and 
the  most  northern  counties  in  Va.,  high  up  in  the  Alleghany  range,  as  Monongalia,  Ma- 
rion, and  Preston,  where  it  might  be  supposed  our  winters  are  the  longest,  that  we 
have  not  a  decided  superiority.  In  these  last  counties  I  have  mentioned,  so  long  famous 
for  the  production  of  wool,  equal,  if  not  superior,  to  that  of  the  Messrs.  Patterson,  of 
Washington  county,  Pa.,  it  is  not  necessary  to  feed  in  winter,  except  under  extraordinary 
circumstances.  The  meadows  and  other  pastures  are  kept  up  in  the  fall,  and  when  snow 
falls,  sheep  being  turned  on  them,  scratch  away  the  snow  and  feed  themselves.  So 
it  is,  through  all  our  Alleghany  and  Blue  Ridge  mountains.  But  the  variety  of  our 
grasses,  blue,  herds,  timothy,  red  and  white  clover,  sain  foin,  crab,  orchard,  Bermuda, 
and  a  long  list  of  others,  better  known  by  local  names,  where  they  are  found,  with  the 
wild  pea  vine,  and  a  large  quantity  of  wild  growth,  varying  in  all  localities,  giro  us 
inestimable  advantages  over  the  most  favored  parts  of  the  North.  There,  winter  feed- 
ing averages  150  days,  and  costs,  in  most  favorable  circumstances.  27^  cents  per  poundt 
of  wool,  whilst  in  the  Southern  States,  by  Mr.  Randall's  own  showing,  it  costs  but 


16 

8  1-12  cents,  or  nearly  three  and  a  half  limes  greater  in  the  North.  He  also  demonstrates 
satisfactorily,  that  with  a  cost  of  their  land,  as  average,  at  $20  per  acre,  they  realize 
a  nett  profit  of  2U|  per  cent,  per  acre.  By  his  own  showing,  he  makes  thenett  profits 
in  the  South,  tiro  hundred  and  eighty  per  cent-  per  acre,  on  lands  worth  $1  50  per  acre, 
and  how  many  thousands  of  acres  of  lands  are  there,  at  lower  figures  even  than  that,  sir? 
How  many  lands  have  we  akin  to  the  light,  sandy  lands  of  the  peninsula,  or  counties  of 
Accomac  and  Northampton,  the  thin  lands  of  the  Eastern  shore,  or  the  belt  of  land  be- 
tween this  and  Petersburg.'  Compared  with  the  lands  I  have  mentioned,  that  large  body 
of  land  between  Schenectady  and  Albany,  New  York,  was,  years  ago,  as  valueless,  to  all 
appearance,  as  the  Desert  of  Sahara.  The  sands  were  light  and  drifting,  and  would  be 
carried  by  the  winds  as  snow,  into  heaps  and  ridges.  There  was  scarcely  vegetation  of 
any  kind  whatever  upon  it.  In  1837,  in  a  trip  through  that  section,  I  called  to  see  the 
late  venerable  Jesse  Buel,  at  that  time  the  Editor,  as  I  believe  he  was  the  founder  of  the 
"Cultivator."  Next  to  John  S.  Skinner,  no  man  within  the  range  of  my  reading  or  ac- 
quaintance, held  a  stronger  claim  on  the  people  of  America,  than  did  this  man,  as  a  na- 
tional benefactor.  I  found  him  three  miles  from  Albany,  on  a  beautiful  farm,  that  looked 
like  an  "oasis"  in  the  desert,  amid  this,  even  at  that  time,  sandy  waste.  The  fields  were 
well  set  in  grass,  and  the  sod  seemed  firm  and  compact,  and  for  that  section  of  country, 
the  corn,  (Dulton  variety,)  small,  compared  with  ours,  looked  promising.  He  had  settled 
there  some  years  before,  to  experiment,  and  see  if  those  lands  could  not  be  reclaimed. 
It  was  a  success.  The  whole  region  now  "blooms  and  blossoms  like  the  rose."  What 
was  the  secret?  Sheep  husbandry.  And  like  causes  produce  like  effects.  All  our  lands, 
the  thiymest  and  most  unpromising,  can  be  made  rich  and  productive.  I  promise  my 
friends,  the  delegates  from  Louisa  and  Fluvanna,  if  they  will  induce  their  constituents  to 
adopt  the  system,  posterity  will  call  them  blessed.  « 

There  are  two  or  three  other  considerations,  of  a  highly  favourable  character,  to  be 
taken  into  account,  among  the  direct  profits  of  sheep  husbandry.  The  risk  of  death  to 
the  flock,  by  ordinary  causes,  is  nothing.  The  sheep  is  invaluable  in  clearing  up  wild 
lands,  and  always  improves  its  vegetation.  No  means  so  cheap,  can  be  had  to  enrich  our 
poorer  and  thinnest  soils.  The  manure  of  the  sheep  is  the  richest  of  any  animal,  and  is 
equally  distributed,  and  high  lands,  inaccessible  to  other  means  of  being  enriched,  will  be. 
rendered  so  by  them.  Our  aged  slaves  can  be  made  flock  masters,  and  thus  be  able  to  ren- 
der invaluable  service  still,  aided,  as  they  should  be,  by  trained  dogs  of  the  Shepherd 
breed.  It  is  satisfactorily  proven,  by  experience,  that  the  Merino  is  best  adapted  to  the 
South,  and  is  equal,  either  in  wool  or  mutton,  to  any  other  variety.  The  Southern 
States,  including  those  west  of  the  Mississippi  river,  include  an  area  of  450,000  square 
miles,  or  288,000,000  square  acres.  Allow  one  eighth  of  this  region  to  be  in  a  state  of 
cultivation,  or  natural  pastures,  and  we  have  36,000,000  acres,  which  could  be  devoted 
more  or  less;  to  the  growth  of  wool.  Suppose  every  two  acres,  on  an  average,  would 
support  one  sheep,  which  they  might  do  with  no  material  diminution  of  present  staples, 
and  that  each  sheep  averages  three  pounds  per  fleece,  the  annual  product  of  wool  would 
be  54,000,000  pounds.  What  would  be  equal  to  our  own  wants,  in  time  of  peace,  and  the 
amount  of  labor  and  attention,  subtracted  from  other  pursuits,  would  be  very  small.  The 
South  thinks  the  coarse  wools  are  easier  raised  and  better  adapted  to  her  wants.  It  costs 
no  more  to  raise  one  than  the  other.  Fine  wool  is  worth  more  per  pound  than  coarse,  for 
actual  v:ear  or  use.  It  is  true,  a  piece  of  broad-cloth,  made  of  fine  wool,  is  not  so  strong, 
nor  will  it  wear  like  a  Chelmsford  plain,  of  treble  thickness.  The  threads  of  the  broad- 
cloth are  spun  to  extreme  fineness.  To  give  it  finish,  or  the  beautiful  nap,  these  threads 
are  reduced  by  gigging  and  shearing.  But  spin  fine  wool  into  coarse  yarn,  and  it  makes 
stronger  and  better  cloth,  and  felts  better,  than  any  Ions  or  coarse  wool.  It  is  settled,  too, 
that  an  acre  of  herbage  will  uniformly  give  nearly  double  the  value  of  Merino — that  it  will 
of  any  English  long  or  middle  wools. 

1  desire,  to  prove,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  attention  to  sheep  husbandry,  in  the  South, 
will  not  detract  from  the  great  staples,  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  sugar,  &c.  It  has  been  sat- 
isfactorily ascertained,  by  a  carefully  prepared  report,  from  the  Agricultural  Committee 
of  House  of  Representatives  of  South  Carolina,  through  the  chairman,  Hon.  R.  W.  Roper, 
and  by  a  calculation  accurately  made  by  the  late  Governor  Hammond,  "that  of  cotton, 
the  United  States  at  that  time  produced  578,012,473  pounds  more  than  half  the  crop  of 
the  whole  world.  Of  that  sum,  South  Carolina  raised  43,927,171  pounds,  or  l-13th  of  the 
quantity,  showing  a  great  falling  off  in  her  former  products.  The  new  lands,  being  opened 
in  other  States,  and  especially  west  of  the  Mississippi,  are  found  to  grow  2,500  pounds 
per  hand,  and  in  South  Carolina,  1,200  pounds  per  hand,  the  entire  yield.  The  cotton 
crop  of  the  world  amounts  to  1,000,000,000  pounds,  which  would  require  at  250  pounds 
per  acre,  4,000,000  acres.  The  four  States  of  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Alabama,  and 
Florida,  contain  130,000,000  acres,  proving,  that  if  only  one  acre  in  32  were  found  capa- 
ble of  producing  250  pounds,  these  four  States,  alone,  could  supply  the  demand  of  all  the  mar- 
kets in  the  uwrld.  South  Carolina  has  16,000,000  acres  of  land,  only  1,300,000  of  which 
are  cultivated.  Cotton  occupies  175,000  acres;  rice,  80,000;  Indian  corn,  500,000;  potatoes, 
22,612;  wheat,  24,079— making  800,000  acres;  the  balance,  500,000,  taken  up  in  oats,  rye. 
tobacco, &c.    To  what  use,  then,  is  the  .balance  of  our  territory  of  14,000,000  of  acrc> 


17 

to  be  appropriated  ?  Are  we  to  be  forever  supplied  with  stcck  from  the  west,  bread-stuff* 
from  the  Middle  States,  and  manufactures  from  the  North  ?  What  a  pertinent  inquiry,  u 
this  last,  Mr.  Speaker,  now  ?  Not  as  it  applies  to  South  Carolina,  but  to  Virginia  and  all 
the  Southern  States.  How  forcibly  docs  it  appeal  to  us  to  bring  the  plow,  the  loom,  and 
the  anvil,  by  the  side  of  each  other.  Here,  the  mighty  James  chides  us  for  our  apathy 
of  the  past,  as  it  chafes,  and  murmers,  over  its  rocky  bed,  hastening  to  pour  its  waters 
into  the  noblest  harbor  of  the  world.  Nature  has  lavished  with  unstinted  hand,  around 
this  city,  all  the  elements  which  we  should  combine,  to  make  her  the  Birmingham,  Shef- 
field, and  Lowell  of  the  South.  The  rich  deposits  of  coal  hard  by,  and  the  hills  and 
mountains,  teeming  with  the  richest  ores,  invite  us,  in  language  that  cannot  be  misinter- 
preted, to  make  ourselves  independent.  I  believe  it  would  have  been  well  for  us  to  have 
had  the  blockade  of  our  ports  complete,  and  an  impassible  gulf  must  be  made  between  us 
and  the  North,  in  the  stern  determination  to  trade  no  more  with  them.  Instead  of  suf- 
fering, as  our  people  are  now,  for  the  want  of  the  small  article  of  cotton  and  wool  cards, 
and  wlien  it  is  possible  to  get  them  at  all,  have  to  pay  $40  each,  for  them,  we  should  be 
making  them,  and  many  things  besides,  indispensable  to  our  wants. 

We  can  but  look  forward  to  the  future,  Mr,  Speaker,  dark,  though,  the  prospect  now 
i*.  I  have  never,  for  a  moment,  doubted  our  ultimate  success.  We  will  yet  have  more 
trials  to  encounter,  and  sacrifices  to  make,  in  working  out  the  two  great  problems,  de- 
signed by  Providence,  for  our  demonstration.  That  we  will  have  virtue  enough,  as  a  na- 
tion, and  wisdom  enough  granted  us,  to  enable  us  to  show  to  the  world,  that  "man 
is  capable  of  self-government,"  I  firmly  believe.  As  to  the  permanence  of  the  institu- 
tion of  slavery,  among  us,  and  its  intimate  connection  with  the  well  being  of  society, 
he  is  skeptical,  truly,  who  doubts  it.  Events  that  have  occurred  since  our  separation 
from  the  Union,  and  are  daily  transpiring,  show,  beyond  refutation,  the  dependence 
of  the  civilized  world  on  negro  labor,  properly  organized  and  conducted.  England  and 
France,  are  both,  now  convinced  of  its  truth,  and  true  to  that  stubborn  principle,  in 
our  weak  nature,  are  resisting  its  admission.  They  will  be  compelled  to  yield.  The  hungry, 
starving  thousands,  in  both  of  those  Empires,  are  forcing  the  truth  upon  them.  Even 
the  Yankee  must  admit  that  the  great  staples  of  cotton,  rice  and  sugar,  can  only  be 
cultivated  by  the  negro.  They  have  been  convinced  of  this  fact,  in  the  progress  of  the 
war,  if  they  doubted  it  before.  England,  availing  herself  of  our  troubles,  renewed  her 
exertions  in  India,  to  secure  a  supply  of  cotton.  How  far  she  has  succeeded,  let  the 
facts  embraced  in  this  brief  paragraph  show. 

Cotton  in  Indi\. — Mr.  Samuel  Smith,  who  was  sent  out  from  England  to  India,  to 
investigate  the  subject  of  cotton  culture,  in  a  pamphlet,  thus  sums  up  the  reasons  why 
that  country  cannot  compete  with  America  in  the  cultivation  of  cotton: 

"  1st,  That  India  is  not  able,  as  a  cotton  growing  country,  to  supply  the  place  of 
America:  2d;  That  large  supplies  of  cotton  can  be  drawn  from  India  only  by  excessive 
prices,  and  whenever  prices  return  to  a  normal  level,  1  lie  production  will  recede  corres- 
pondingly, and  3d,  That  no  hope  whatever  exists  of  India  being  able  to  fill  the  void 
made  by  the  stoppage  of  the  American  cotton  trade  at  anything  like  remunerative  prices 
to  the  spinner,  and  very  little  hope  of  her  being  able  to  provide  a  quality  that  would 
suitably  fill  the  place  of  American  cotton." 

He  holds  that  Egypt  is,  in  many  respects,  a  better  cotton  growing  country  than  India, 
and  that  a  very  considerable  increase  in  the  ordinary  supply  of  cotton  may  be  obtained 
from  that  country. 

At  this  point,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  cannot  forbear  to  allude  to  that  anomalous  class  of  our 
population,  "the  free  blacks,"  and  to  say,  that  this  war  has  taught  bothjthemand  us, 
another  lesson.  It  is  this.  That  the  South  is  their  guardian  and  protector.  Where,  in 
the  North,  is  it  that  they  have  fared  any  better,  or  as  well,  even,  as  the  slave?  Let  the 
late  riots  in  New  York  answer.  Our  course  towards  them,  in  the  past,  has  been  harsh, 
and  not  dictated,  as  it  has  appeared  to  me,  by  a  sound  policy.  In  my  legislative  ca- 
reer here,  now  verging  on  twenty  years,  I  have  frequently  stood  out  against  the  harsh,  if 
not  cruel,  and  to  me,  short-sighted  policy  proposed  against  them.  What  has  been 
their  conduct  in  this  war?  With  one  single  exception,  so  far  as  memory  serves  me, 
have  they  proved  themselves  loyal,  and  that  their  sympathies  are  with  us.  Why  not, 
sir?  They  have  a  large  share  of  intelligence.  They  cannot  but  see,  that  the  policy 
of  the  North  bodes  no  good  to  them.  They,  in  common  with  the  slave,  have  re- 
ceived the  same  cruel  and  harsh  treatment  at  their  hands.  They  have  borne  them- 
selves with  us,  as  a  class,  well.  They  have  rendered  much  valuable  service,  and  have  done 
it  uncomplainingly.  They  regard  us  as  their  true  friends  and  guardians.  Why  not?  Many 
of  them  are  manumitted  slaves,  or  the  descendants  of  such.  They  still  look  back, 
sometimes,  through  one  or  more  generations,  to  their  old  homes,  and  no  doubt  many 
of  them,  with  regret,  to  the  day  when  they  were  pronounced  free.  Let  our  policy 
towards  them,  be  dictated  with  less  harshness.  In  many  portions  of  our  State,  before 
the  war,  they  constituted  an  important  element,  in  the   labour  of  the  country.    How 


APPENDIX. 


Below  will  be  found  some  facts  from  a  practical  business  man  in  regard  to  the  ttlue  o 
the  carcass  of  a  dead  dog.  Facts  are  stubborn  things,  and  my  anxietj  ia  to  convinee  the 
public  mind. 

THE  VALUE  OF  DEAD  DOGS. 

In  the  present  scarcity  of  leather,  the  following  correspondence  will  be  found  interest- 
ing and  suggest  ire: 

Horse  of  Delegates,  21st  Sept.,  1663. 
Edward  Fdrkethough,  Esq. — 

Dear  Sir:  Being  desirous  to  obtain  all  the  information  in  my  reach  that  I  can,  upon 
a  question  of  practical  character  now  before  the  House,  I  propound  to  you  some  ques- 
tions, because  of  your  long  experience  in  the  business  of  preparing  leather,  and  knowl- 
edge of  the  ingredients  and  materials  made  use  of.  I  am  sure  yoa  will  cheerfully  impart 
any  information  in  your  reach. 

How  long  hare  you  been  engaged  as  a  practical  tanner,  and  wholesale  dealer  in 
oils,  &c.  ? 

What  is  the  most  valuable  oil  used  in  dressing  leather  ? 

Have  you  any  knowledge  of  the  value  of  the>  oil  extracted  from  the  carcass  of  the  dog  ? 
and  if  so,  state  its  comparative  value  with  the  other. 

What  is  the  next  most  valuable  oil  ? 

What  oil  is  now  used  as  a  substitute  for  these  oils,  and  how  does  it  compare  in  its  ef- 
fects upon  the  leather,  and  in  price  ? 

What  per  cent,  of  other  oils  than  this  substitute  are  now  used  in  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy ? 

What  are  the  prices  of  the  several  oils  above  named  ? 

What  is  the  relative  value  of  leather  made  from  the  skin  of  the  dog,  compared  with 
calf  skin  ? 

What  is  an  ordinary  sized  calf  and  dog  skin  worth,  green,  and  after  being  tanned? 

What  quantity  of  oil  can  be  extracted  from  the  carcass  of  a  common  sued  dog,  as  fat 

as  they  are  ordinarily  found  about  the  cities  and  towns  ? 

Very  respectfully,  yours, 

J.  M.  McCUE. 


IticiMOKB,  September  81, 1863. 
Col.  J.  M.  McCoe,  House  of  Delegates — 

Dear  Sir:  I  have  received  your  communication,  appreciate  your  motives  in  making 
the  inquiries  and  take  pleasure  in  giving  you  all  the  information  in  my  possession. 

First.  I  have  been  engaged  in  currying  and  preparing  leather,  &c,  from  sixteen  to 
this  time,  when  I  am  forty-iix  years  of  age;  For  some  years  past  have  beep  engaged  in 
wholesale  dealing  in  leather,  hides,  oils,  fcc 


"*%. 


pettmalifG« 

PH8.5 


